- Crypto fraud involving the theft of $9.4 million results in a five-year federal sentence.
- Sources claim the investors lost millions through deceptive trading claims.
- This comes a few days after an arrest involving the same was made in the UK.
A federal court has sentenced an Oklahoma-based investment firm founder to 60 months in prison over a crypto fraud case involving thousands of U.S. investors. According to court filings issued by the Department of Justice, Travis Ford, 36, the CEO and co-founder of Wolf Capital Crypto Trading LLC, misled the public through exaggerated claims of daily returns and diverted investor contributions for personal use. The company raised more than $9.4 million from roughly 2,800 individuals during an eight-month period in 2023.
Wolf Capital CEO Admits to Crypto Fraud
Ford admitted during his guilty plea in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to investigators, he encouraged returns of 1% to 2% daily, which amounts to more than 500 percent per year. In his plea, he admitted that he realized such returns were not realistic, yet he proceeded with marketing the promises to bring more deposits.
More than 1 million was also forfeited, and about 170,000 were fined in restitution by the court. According to prosecutors, the case is still noteworthy as an illustration of how crypto fraud schemes can rapidly expand with the help of online advertisements and outreach using social media.
Authorities explained that Ford and his co-conspirators used investor money to enrich themselves while portraying Wolf Capital as a sophisticated trading enterprise. Funds were misappropriated instead of being placed into the trading strategies marketed on the firm’s website.
The sentencing announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney Matthew R. Galeotti and Eric Shen, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group. He emphasized the agency’s ongoing focus on digital-asset-based crypto fraud cases.
London-Based Operator Jailed in £5.5bn Crypto Fraud
The Ford case emerges alongside other international enforcement efforts targeting large-scale crypto fraud and laundering operations. Zhimin Qian, the mastermind of a massive Ponzi scam involving cryptocurrency that deceived some 128,000 victims in China, was found guilty and sentenced in the UK following a different investigation.
Before being found and taken into custody in North Yorkshire, Qian, 46, had been on the run for over seven years. Earlier in 2024, activity in a long-dormant bitcoin wallet led investigators to follow her. Police seized more than 61,000 Bitcoin from her London property, valued between £5bn and £5.5bn.
At Southwark Crown Court, Qian received a sentence of 11 years and eight months, while her associate, Malaysian national Seng Hok Ling, received 4 years and 11 months. Prosecutors described the scale of the case as unprecedented and tied directly to one of the largest crypto fraud networks ever documented by UK authorities. Judge Sally-Ann Hales KC underscored the extent of damage to victims and said that Qian was driven by nothing but pure greed.
National and international organizations emphasized how the plan by Qian used the initial hype by the people holding cryptocurrency assets by luring the victims into a buying spree with glossy advertising products and promises of high returns.
The more coordinated enforcement approach to crypto fraud, which authorities view as a growing concern across digital-asset markets, is reflected in the cases in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Both scams, as the authorities say, included false statements about performance, a dependence on the promotion in social media, and a considerable amount of funds transferred into cryptocurrency wallets in order to mask the channel of illegal income.
Experts in market integrity caution that high-profile incidents fuel public mistrust of digital asset investments. As regulators continue implementing new frameworks, such as the EU’s MiCA rules and U.S. discussions on updated securities guidance, officials argue that structured oversight can help reduce exposure to crypto fraud.
