New York Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Alleged Manipulation of $7 Million Cryptocurrency Investment Scheme

BlockBeats News, July 10th, according to a Supreme Court of the United States announcement, Douglas Jae Woo Kim was sentenced to 48 months of federal prison today for defrauding investors of over $7 million in cryptocurrency and other funds. This sentence was pronounced by Senior District Judge Charles R. Breyer of the United States District Court.

During a three-week trial in February 2025, the 32-year-old New York resident Kim was found guilty by a federal jury of 14 counts of wire fraud, international money laundering, and money laundering, with one count of international money laundering being dismissed. During today's sentencing hearing, Judge Breyer, citing jurisdictional reasons, dismissed one of the money laundering counts related to monetary instruments. Court documents and trial evidence revealed that between October 2017 and June 2020, Kim, who had moved to San Francisco, defrauded multiple family and friends who were investors by posing as a legitimate cryptocurrency trader. He falsely claimed to need short-term liquidity funds for cryptocurrency trading or other legitimate business purposes, assured the victims of loans being "zero risk or very low risk," promised high returns, and claimed to have sufficient funds for personal guarantees.