Former Rugby Player Jailed For $900,000 Crypto Scam
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A former semi-pro rugby player has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after operating a crypto-mining Ponzi scheme
Shane Moore operated through Quantum Donovan LLC, where he solicited over $900,000 from roughly 40 investors, including friends and teammates, using new money to pay returns to earlier investors
Moore never bought the mining equipment, instead spending funds on a lavish lifestyle and crypto trading
A crypto-mining Ponzi scheme run by a former semi-pro rugby player has led to a 30-month federal prison sentence. Prosecutors revealed that Shane Donovan Moore raised more than $900,000 from about 40 investors under false pretenses by claiming to run a legitimate mining operation through his Seattle-based Quantum Donovan LLC. Donovan promised daily returns, but instead used investors’ money for personal expenses and to superficially repay early investors.
If It Walks and Quacks Like a Ponzi Scheme…
According to the Department of Justice, between January 2021 and October 2022, Moore promised backers 1% daily returns from mining-generated profits, allegedly reinvesting in actual cryptocurrency hardware. In reality, no mining rigs were ever purchased, with Moore commingling the funds with his own accounts, enjoying a lavish lifestyle and simulating mining activity by buying tokens to emulate mining rewards.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin emphasized that despite Moore’s personal traumas, he had “many opportunities and advantages that many people have not,” yet chose to harm others and cause “emotional and psychological damage.” What makes this case worse is that the harm was doled out to friends and other acquaintances rather than strangers, attaching a personal element to this decades-old scam.
“Age-old Fraud”
Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller stated that “used the newness of cryptocurrency to commit an age‑old fraud – a Ponzi scheme,” leaving broken relationships in his wake as he deepened his scam. U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman noted that 38 victims had been identified, likely with more to come out of the woodwork, warning that “cryptocurrency investors can fall victim to all the same fraud tactics as any investor.”
This sentence—30 months behind bars for wire fraud—underscores how regulators and prosecutors are intensifying efforts against crypto scams, especially Ponzi and mining schemes.
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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ July 20, 2025 8:00 am