- Kunal Mehta admitted to laundering $25 million for a cryptocurrency theft ring that stole greater than $263 million.
- U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro introduced the responsible plea, citing RICO conspiracy costs.
- The information follows jail sentences for Wolf Capital’s Travis Ford and Cloth CFO Nevin Shetty.
Kunal Mehta, 45, of Irvine, California, grew to become the eighth suspect to plead responsible in an ongoing multi-state case that used social engineering to steal tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} in cryptocurrency from victims throughout the US.
Mehta and his associates stole tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} from victims
Mehta pleaded responsible to collaborating in a RICO conspiracy earlier than U.S. District Choose Colleen Koller Kotelly, and admitted to cooperating with a syndicate to launder not less than $25 million in stolen funds, U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro stated in a press release.
FBI Particular Agent Reed Davis of the Washington Area Workplace’s Legal Division and Kareem Carter, Senior Particular Agent in Cost of Inside Income Service Legal Investigation (CI) of the Washington, DC Area Workplace, additionally joined within the announcement. They famous that Mehta, together with co-conspirators, stole tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} in digital forex from victims and laundered the funds to make them seem authentic.
FBI is working exhausting to catch scammers
In line with the FBI, Mehta’s plea reaffirms the FBI’s dedication to exposing scammers and serves as a reminder to Individuals to be cautious of on-line scammers.
Officers warned the general public not to answer cellphone calls, emails or textual content messages requesting private info corresponding to passwords, PINs, or one-time passwords despatched to emails or telephones.
$263 million “social engineering” plan
Court docket paperwork reveal that this specific social engineering scheme started earlier than October 2023 and continued till March 2025. The syndicate focused people on on-line gaming platforms. The group included database hackers, callers, and even a residential burglar who bodily stole the {hardware} pockets.
The fraudsters that Mehta performed a task in laundering focused on-line gaming platforms made up of people in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and abroad. Prosecutors allege the ring stole tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} in digital forex, with an estimated complete of greater than $263 million.
Extra suspects to be sentenced
Final Friday, a U.S. courtroom sentenced Travis Ford, 36, of Oklahoma, who was concerned in the identical incident, to 60 months in jail and ordered him to pay greater than $1 million in forfeitures and greater than $170,000 in restitution.
Previous to that, 41-year-old Nevin Shetty was convicted of 4 counts of wire fraud for allegedly receiving and misusing roughly $35 million from a former employer.
Disclaimer: The data contained on this article is for informational and academic functions solely. This text doesn’t represent monetary recommendation or recommendation of any form. Coin Version will not be chargeable for any losses incurred on account of the usage of the content material, merchandise, or providers talked about. We encourage our readers to do their due diligence earlier than taking any motion associated to our firm.
