South Dakota Crypto Investor Faces 29 Charges in Alleged $20 Million Fraud Scheme

Odaily Planet Daily News: U.S. prosecutors have announced that a federal grand jury has returned a 29-count criminal indictment against Benjamin Paul Wiener, a crypto investor from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on charges including wire fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft, involving approximately $20 million.

According to the indictment, Wiener, 43, is accused of luring investors into providing funds and digital assets to multiple companies he controlled through false pretenses. Victims spanned South Dakota and Minnesota, involving dozens of investors. Prosecutors allege that after obtaining the funds, Wiener moved assets through banks and cryptocurrency exchanges to conceal their source, ownership, and control, and used a portion of the money for personal expenses.

Prosecutors further allege that when funds became tight or investors demanded redemptions, Wiener would recruit new investors and use their money to repay earlier investors, an operating model characteristic of a Ponzi scheme. It is reported that he used eight companies, including multiple LLCs, to carry out these activities.

Additionally, Wiener is charged with falsifying documents and communication records in April 2025, and using another person’s identity information to fraudulently obtain a $1 million line of credit from a financial institution in Sioux Falls.

Wiener appeared in court on July 10th, pleaded not guilty to all charges, and was released on bond. The trial is expected to begin on September 15th. Under U.S. law, wire fraud and money laundering carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison, bank fraud carries a maximum of 30 years, and aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of at least two years. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are jointly investigating the case. (The Block)