The operator of a cryptocurrency website has pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco to defrauding investors of nearly $1 million, according to a joint announcement by the Department of Justice and the IRS.
Ryan Mark Ginster, 35, of Corona, admitted in his guilty plea Wednesday that he operated a website beginning in February 2018 called Socialprofimatic.com designed to defraud investors by making false representations about cryptocurrency investment opportunities. .
Prosecutors said if people they believe have been victims of this fraud scheme, please contact IRS-Criminal Investigation at emsvictim@ci.irs.gov or visit the following website: https://www.justice.gov /usao-ndca /us-v-ryan-mark-ginster-22-cr-00374-jsc.
According to the announcement, Ginster stated on the website that the investments would receive a return of 8 percent per day, stating that "this will be JOB REPLACEMENT income, the income that will pay you every hour of every day, even when your [sic] sleeping or on vacation.
Ginster further claimed on the website that investors could โrequest their earnings anytime they want and it will be paid INSTANTLY to their Bitcoin/Litecoin wallet.โ
Ginster admitted that these and many other claims on his website were completely false and intended solely to influence investors to part with their money or property.
In the 38 days that the Socialprofimatic.com website was active, the website received approximately 9,026 bitcoin deposits totaling approximately 98.12089739 BTC, valued at approximately $844,667 at the time.
Ginster admitted that he did not invest the funds, instead depositing them into his own cryptocurrency wallet, which is now worth more than $1.6 million.
Ginster remains out of custody pending sentencing scheduled for May 23.
The case is being prosecuted by the Securities and Corporate Fraud Section of the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS-CI Washington DC CyberCrime Unit.
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