Canadian teen pleads guilty to $13M crypto theft

Trenton Richard Johnston, a Canadian now 20 years old, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering after prosecutors said he and others stole more than $13 million in cryptocurrency using social‑engineering scams that targeted victims’ accounts.

According to prosecutors, the scheme began in January 2024. Johnston and co‑conspirators impersonated employees of Google, Trezor and other crypto firms by phone and email to convince victims their accounts were compromised and to prompt account owners to move funds.

Prosecutors allege that in February Johnston tricked a victim into believing their Google email and Coinbase accounts were at risk, allowing the group to take roughly $41,000 in Ether. Less than a month later, the group posed as Google and Trezor representatives and social‑engineered a California victim into transferring about $13 million in Bitcoin from a wallet.

Investigators say the attackers relied on brief windows of trust to move funds quickly. Because most cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, investigators report the losses were permanent for the victims in those accounts.

Johnston’s activity was uncovered after a traffic stop in March. Officers stopped him for speeding in a Rolls‑Royce, found 21 suspected amphetamine tablets, and seized a computer, a cellphone and handwritten notes authorities say tied him to the fraud. He has returned approximately 53.16 Bitcoin and 275.23 Ether, valued at about $3.7 million at current prices, and has cooperated with investigators.

Prosecutors reported that about $1.2 million of the stolen funds was spent over two months on a Miami and Los Angeles lifestyle. With assistance from Brandon Tardibone, owner of an exotic car‑rental business who also pleaded guilty to money laundering, Johnston bought or rented luxury vehicles including two BMWs and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, rented a home in North Miami, booked a private jet and purchased plane tickets for two women from New York.

Johnston, who was 19 when charged in May, pleaded guilty to a single count in a plea deal that dismissed federal wire fraud charges. Prosecutors recommended a prison term of 51 to 63 months. Prosecutors recommended that Tardibone receive 27 to 33 months. Sentencing has not been set.

Deddy Lavid, CEO and co‑founder of Cyvers, urged stronger pre‑transaction safeguards, saying, “The industry cannot rely on education alone. Wallets, exchanges, custodians, and banks need real‑time, pre‑transaction security controls that detect suspicious behavior, risky destination wallets, and laundering patterns before funds leave the account. The key shift is from investigating fraud after the theft to preventing it before execution.”

Federal authorities have pursued multiple prosecutions in recent months targeting large thefts carried out through social engineering. Separate cases have resulted in multi‑year prison terms for individuals convicted in large, organized schemes that used impersonation and other tactics to steal substantial sums of cryptocurrency.