A crypto investor from South Dakota, USA, faces 29 charges for allegedly orchestrating a $20 million fraud scheme

Odaily Planet Daily News: According to US prosecutors, a federal grand jury has indicted Benjamin Paul Wiener, a crypto investor from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on 29 criminal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft, involving approximately $20 million.

The indictment states that Wiener, 43, is accused of using false statements to induce investors to contribute funds and digital assets to several companies under his control, with victims spanning South Dakota and Minnesota, involving dozens of investors. Prosecutors allege that after receiving the funds, Wiener transferred assets through banks and cryptocurrency exchanges to conceal the source, ownership, and control of the funds, and used a portion of the money for personal expenses.

Prosecutors further allege that when cash flow became tight or investors requested redemptions, Wiener would recruit new investors and use the incoming funds to repay earlier investors, with the operational model suspected to be a Ponzi scheme. It is reported that he used eight companies, including multiple LLCs, to carry out these activities.

Additionally, Wiener is accused of forging 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.

Currently, Wiener appeared in court on July 10, pleaded not guilty to all charges, and was released after posting bail. The trial is expected to begin on September 15. Under US law, wire fraud and money laundering carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years, and aggravated identity theft carries an additional 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)