Las Vegas Man Convicted in $24M Crypto Ponzi

A federal jury convicted Las Vegas businessman Brent Kovar on multiple fraud and money-laundering charges after a nine-day trial, the Justice Department reported. Kovar was found guilty on 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering in a case that involved roughly $24 million and at least 400 victims.

Prosecutors say Kovar operated a company called Profit Connect from late 2017 through July 2021. He promoted the business as a crypto-mining operation that used artificial intelligence on a supercomputer to generate trading profits and verify transactions.

Investors were offered fixed annual returns between 15% and 30% and a 100% money-back guarantee, and were told Profit Connect held hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency reserves. Prosecutors and court filings say those claims were false: the company did not produce the advertised profits and held no such reserves.

Records introduced at trial show Profit Connect had no viable method to deliver the promised returns or to honor the refund guarantee. Instead of using investor funds for legitimate mining or trading, prosecutors say Kovar used money to pay company expenses, buy a home, purchase gifts for employees and repay earlier investors, while describing those payments as proceeds from crypto activities.

Federal officials say the scheme collected about $24 million from at least 400 people, including retail investors who were told their funds would be secured and managed by advanced technology. Investigators relied on financial records and witness testimony to show that reported revenue streams and reserve holdings were fabricated and that investor funds were diverted for personal and business use.

Kovar is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30. The 280-year figure cited by prosecutors represents the combined statutory maximum across all counts; a federal judge will set the actual sentence within the limits of federal law and sentencing guidelines.