Brooklyn Man Gets 12 Years for $15.94 Million Crypto Heist

Ronald Spektor, a Brooklyn man, has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for stealing around $15.94 million in cryptocurrency from approximately 100 Coinbase users across the United States.

The theft occurred over roughly a year, during which time Spektor posed as a Coinbase representative and told users their accounts or assets were at risk from hackers.

He convinced them to move their crypto to new wallets that appeared to be under their control but were accessible to him. The stolen assets were repeatedly swapped through crypto services before being sent to mixing services and cryptocurrency gambling platforms.

Spektor pleaded guilty on September 2 to all 31 charges, including first-degree money laundering and first-degree grand larceny. He was also ordered to forfeit cash, cryptocurrency, and personal property worth more than $500,000 as well as pay nearly $16 million in restitution.