A New York federal court has sentenced 57-year-old Dwayne Golden to 97 months in prison for orchestrating a $40 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded hundreds of investors. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II on June 27, following Golden’s guilty plea in September 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
Golden, along with co-conspirators Gregory Aggesen, Marquis Egerton (also known as “Mardy Eger”), and William White, ran three fraudulent digital asset platforms—EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin. These companies falsely promised investors guaranteed returns from overseas crypto trading but instead operated as classic Ponzi schemes, using funds from new investors to pay off earlier ones or to enrich the operators themselves.
The scheme was active between April and August 2017. After attracting tens of millions of dollars in investments, the group abruptly shut down the platforms and disappeared with the funds, leaving investors with massive losses.
Prosecutors also revealed that Golden and his co-defendants attempted to obstruct federal investigations by destroying evidence and submitting false statements to authorities. From 2017 to 2022, Golden, Aggesen, and White conspired to derail investigations by the Federal Trade Commission and a federal grand jury. White, acting on Aggesen’s behalf, provided misleading responses to official subpoenas.
As part of his sentence, Golden was ordered to forfeit $2.46 million, with additional restitution still to be determined. William White has already received a 30-month prison sentence, while Aggesen and Egerton are awaiting sentencing.
Authorities have encouraged victims to submit restitution claims to the FBI, which is overseeing the recovery process.
Golden’s sentencing is part of a broader DOJ crackdown on crypto-related financial crimes. Earlier in June, the Department of Justice moved to seize over $225 million in cryptocurrency linked to “pig butchering” scams, and filed a separate forfeiture action for $7.7 million in crypto tied to North Korean actors. The DOJ also recently charged a Russian national with laundering $500 million through a crypto payments platform.
Federal agencies have emphasized their commitment to aggressively pursue crypto fraud through international collaboration and advanced blockchain analysis, as digital asset crimes continue to rise.
