$24M CRYPTO PONZI ENDS IN A GUILTY VERDICT IN VEGAS

🚨 $24 million went into a crypto mining operation that prosecutors say never mined anything.

A federal jury in Nevada has convicted Las Vegas businessman Brent Kovar of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering over his company Profit Connect, The Cryptonomist reports, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada. The verdict came after a nine-day trial and was announced Aug. 24.

The pitch, according to prosecutors: artificial intelligence software running on a supercomputer, mining crypto and verifying transactions. Fixed annual returns of 15% to 30%. A full money-back guarantee. Hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto reserves supposedly sitting behind it.

Prosecutors say none of it was real, and the company generated no legitimate income capable of covering what it promised.

The props were physical. Investigators said Kovar promoted the scheme with a website, a YouTube video and a PowerPoint, and leased office and warehouse space presented to investors as a data center. Money moved through an entity called Profit Connect Wealth Services.

Where it actually went, prosecutors allege: keeping the business alive, gifts for employees, a house for Kovar, and payments back to earlier investors dressed up as mining proceeds.

One more claim, per the FDIC Office of Inspector General: Kovar told investors their funds were FDIC insured. They were not.

He was charged in a February 2025 indictment carrying an exposure of 330 years. Jurors convicted on 15 counts, leaving a 280-year statutory maximum. Sentencing is set for Nov. 30, 2026.

What should have been the giveaway here, the guaranteed 15% to 30%, or the FDIC claim?

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