Wolf Capital CEO gets 5 years for $9.4M crypto Ponzi

Travis Ford, 36, the CEO and co-founder of Wolf Capital Crypto Trading LLC, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was ordered to forfeit more than $1 million and pay more than $170,000 in restitution.

According to court filings, from January through August 2023 Ford raised about $9.4 million from roughly 2,800 investors through the firm’s website and online promotions. He marketed daily returns of 1% to 2%, equal to about 547% a year.

Ford admitted in his plea that he did not believe those returns were consistently achievable. According to the Justice Department, he and co-conspirators used the promises to attract investors and then diverted funds for their own benefit, resulting in losses.

Forfeiture is intended to recover proceeds tied to the offense, while restitution is directed to victims to cover losses.

The Justice Department announced the sentence. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating, and the case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John J. Liolos of the department’s Fraud Section.

Ford entered a guilty plea in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and acknowledged the 1% to 2% daily returns promoted by Wolf Capital were not realistic.

In an unrelated case, London police recently seized more than 61,000 BTC connected to an investment fraud, the largest crypto seizure yet, showing that authorities can track coins and confiscate proceeds.