- Former rugby player Shane Donovan Moore got 2.5 years in prison for stealing $900,000 from crypto investors.
- He promised 1% daily returns from mining operations but spent the money on luxury items instead.
- Moore used his rugby connections to find victims and ran the scheme through Quantum Donovan LLC from 2021 to 2022.
Former rugby player Shane Donovan Moore received a two-and-a-half-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating a cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 40 investors of $900,000.
The Department of Justice announced Thursday that Moore operated Quantum Donovan LLC between January 2021 and October 2022. Through this company, he targeted investors with promises of lucrative cryptocurrency mining returns while diverting funds for personal use.
Moore marketed his scheme by claiming investor funds would purchase cryptocurrency mining hardware. He guaranteed daily returns of 1% to attract victims. Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller stated that Moore “used the newness of cryptocurrency to commit an age-old fraud, a Ponzi scheme.”
Rugby Connections Fueled Investor Recruitment
Federal authorities revealed that Moore leveraged his rugby background to identify potential investors. Court documents show he exploited personal relationships built through his athletic career to gain trust and credibility with victims.
The Justice Department filed fraud charges against Moore in March 2024. Investigators discovered he had targeted individuals within his rugby network since the scheme’s inception in early 2021.
Instead of purchasing mining equipment as promised, Moore funded a luxury lifestyle with stolen investor money. He bought high-end apartments, designer luggage, and expensive electronics. The operation followed classic Ponzi scheme mechanics, using new investor deposits to pay earlier participants.
US District Judge Tana Lin emphasized that Moore’s actions extended beyond monetary theft during sentencing proceedings in Seattle. The judge noted he “caused emotional and psychological damage to the victims” in addition to their financial losses.
Court records indicate Moore’s victims trusted him based on his athletic reputation and personal relationships. Many investors were friends, family members, or acquaintances from the rugby community who felt personally betrayed by his actions.
Latest in Growing Crypto Ponzi Trend
Moore’s case represents one of several recent cryptocurrency-related Ponzi schemes prosecuted by federal authorities. In February, regulators charged a Las Vegas resident with defrauding 400 investors of $24 million through a fake AI-driven crypto mining operation.
January saw Antonia Perez Hernandez receive a two-year prison sentence for promoting the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. The defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges.
Late 2024 brought another significant case when an 86-year-old former California attorney received five years’ probation and a $14 million restitution order for running a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
These cases highlight ongoing concerns about fraudsters exploiting cryptocurrency’s complexity and public interest to perpetrate traditional financial crimes. Federal prosecutors emphasize that cryptocurrency doesn’t exempt criminals from established fraud laws and penalties.
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