United States authorities have sentenced an Ohio resident who led a crypto investment fraud operation to a nine-year prison term. According to reports, the fraudulent investment manager, Rathnakishore Giri, was accused of collecting more than $10 million.
In addition to his sentence, he will be under surveillance for another three years after his release. According to court records, he lured investors by presenting himself as a skilled cryptocurrency trader who specialized in Bitcoin derivatives trading. He promised potential investors profitable returns without any risk to their initial investment under his protection. However, behind the curtains, Giri had a classic pyramid scheme running. He took money from new investors to return it to previous ones.
Crypto fraudster sentenced to nine years in prison
According to court documents, Giri has been losing all the bets he made with investors’ funds, causing a loss of the people’s money. He would make false reasons for refunds. In October 2024, Giri confessed to one wire fraud charge. However, he didn’t stop there. During the time he waited for his sentencing hearing, he kept on with his act, asking more investors for money, bringing in more victims under his web.
Before Monday’s sentencing, Giri acknowledged this additional wrongdoing through an updated agreement with the Department of Justice. Court filings show Giri attracted investors by talking about his supposed wealth and expensive lifestyle. He owned two Lamborghini sports cars, a Tesla, and an Audi R8. He also displayed costly watches, traveled on private aircraft, and stayed in high-end rental properties.
Rather than putting all investor money into cryptocurrency trading as he had promised, Giri used some of the funds for his own spending or to pay back earlier investors, following the typical pattern of a pyramid scheme. Meanwhile, a previous FBI report noted that crypto frauds have drained 11.4 billion from Americans last year. The report, as mentioned by Cryptopolitan previously, described these schemes as elaborate, long-running operations that use psychological tactics and false legitimacy.
The FBI found that most crypto scams come from organized criminal groups operating in Southeast Asia. These groups often force human trafficking victims to work running the scam operations. The number of victims jumped in 2025, with 181,565 complaints involving cryptocurrency, a 21 percent increase. The average loss per case reached $62,604, showing victims typically lose substantial sums rather than small amounts. Nearly 18,600 people each lost over $100,000, suggesting many victims are losing savings and retirement money.
Cryptocurrency scams now represent a major part of a broader increase in online fraud. Americans filed more than 1 million cybercrime complaints in 2025, with total losses exceeding $20.8 billion. However, the crypto industry has started responding to the threat. According to Binance, its artificial intelligence security systems stopped more than $10.5 billion in user losses from early 2025 through the first quarter of 2026. The exchange blocked 22.9 million scam and phishing attempts in just the first quarter of 2026, protecting about $1.98 billion in user money.
