Key facts
- Ronald Spektor, 23, was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison.
- Spektor stole nearly $16 million from approximately 100 Coinbase users.
- He posed as a Coinbase representative to convince users their funds were at risk from hackers.
- Victims were persuaded to move their cryptocurrency to wallets controlled by Spektor.
- Spektor pleaded guilty to 31 counts, including first-degree money laundering and grand larceny.
- He must forfeit over $500,000 in cash, crypto, and property and pay nearly $16 million in restitution.
Ronald Spektor, a 23-year-old from Sheepshead Bay, has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for orchestrating a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded nearly 100 Coinbase users of approximately $16 million. Spektor posed as a representative of Coinbase, contacting users and falsely claiming their funds were at risk from hackers. He then persuaded them to transfer their cryptocurrency to wallets that he controlled.
Justice Danny Chun imposed the sentence on Wednesday, exceeding prosecutors' request for seven to 21 years. Spektor pleaded guilty on September 2 to all 31 counts in the indictment, which included charges of first-degree money laundering, first-degree grand larceny, and first-degree criminal possession of stolen property. He will also forfeit over $500,000 in cash, cryptocurrency, and property, and must pay restitution of nearly $16 million.
The scheme, which began with victims' phones filling with alerts and emails promising calls from the exchange, involved victims moving their holdings to what they believed were secure new wallets. Spektor then emptied these wallets. The stolen funds were repeatedly swapped across exchanges before being converted into cash and gift cards, with large portions reportedly going to gambling services and online storefronts. Investigators traced the scheme to Spektor through transaction records, blockchain analysis, digital forensics, and seized materials, linking his home IP address to multiple wallets from which crypto had been stolen. He also boasted about his thefts on a Telegram channel and used online forums to recruit others for social engineering tactics.