A 31-year-old Ohio investment manager has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for running a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that raised over $10 million from investors—and for continuing to scam new victims even after pleading guilty.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Rathnakishore Giri of New Albany, Ohio, was sentenced to nine years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office and prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Fake Expertise, Guaranteed Returns
According to court documents, Giri fraudulently promoted himself as an expert cryptocurrency trader specializing in Bitcoin derivatives. He promised investors lucrative returns with no risk to their principal investment, which he guaranteed to return in full.
In reality, Giri had a long history of losing investors’ principal investments. Rather than generating the promised returns, he operated a classic Ponzi structure—using money from new investors to repay earlier ones. When investors sought to cash out or recover their guaranteed principal, Giri misled them about the reasons for delays.
The scheme raised over $10 million, with many victims residing in or around Columbus, Ohio. The DOJ did not disclose the total number of victims or the amount of restitution ordered.
Kept Scamming After Pleading Guilty
The most striking element of the case is what happened after Giri’s guilty plea. In October 2024, Giri pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He was released on pretrial conditions pending sentencing — a standard procedure in white-collar cases.
Instead of waiting quietly for sentencing, Giri continued to solicit funds from cryptocurrency investors while on pretrial release, causing additional harm to new victims. The DOJ said Giri admitted to this additional conduct under an amended plea agreement before sentencing.
The decision to continue defrauding investors after a guilty plea is unusual even by crypto fraud standards. It likely served as a significant aggravating factor in the sentencing, contributing to the nine-year term—substantially above the typical range for fraud schemes of this size.
A Pattern of Crypto Ponzi Sentencings in 2026
Giri’s sentencing adds to an accelerating pace of crypto fraud prosecutions and sentences in 2026. In April, Robert Dunlap of Houston received a 23-year sentence for a $20 million crypto Ponzi scheme involving a fake digital asset called “Meta-1 Coin” that defrauded nearly 1,000 investors. In February, PGI CEO Ramil Palafox was sentenced to 20 years for a $201 million Bitcoin Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 90,000 investors.
Earlier this month, Forsage co-founder Olena Oblamska was extradited from Thailand to face charges in the $340 million Forsage Ponzi, while former Goliath Ventures CEO Christopher Delgado surrendered from Dubai to face prosecution for a $328 million scheme.
The FBI reported that Americans lost a record $9.3 billion to cryptocurrency fraud in 2024, with investment fraud—the category that includes Ponzi schemes—accounting for the majority. The 2025 figure, not yet officially released, is expected to be significantly higher.
The common thread across these cases is the guaranteed-return promise. Legitimate cryptocurrency investments carry inherent volatility and risk. Any scheme that guarantees principal protection or fixed returns on crypto trading is, by definition, misrepresenting the nature of the investment—a red flag that regulators and law enforcement have consistently flagged.
The DOJ directed potential victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud to report to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
