A Hudson Valley man was among four charged in an 11-count indictment for allegedly stealing more than $40 million in investor funds as part of a cryptocurrency scam, federal authorities announced.
On Tuesday, March 8, US Attorney Breon Peace announced that four owners and operators of online cryptocurrency companies – including one from Dutchess County – are facing a host of charges for allegedly running a sophisticated scheme to steal from investors and later attempting to obstruct justice as they were being investigated.
Those charged, according to the US Attorney’s Office:
- Gregory Aggesen, age 58, of Stanfordville in Dutchess County;
- Dwayne Golden, age 57, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;
- William White, age 54, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;
- Marquis Demacking Egerton, also known as “Marty Eger,” age 58 of Washington, North Carolina.
The four, who own and operate web-based virtual currency companies EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin, have been charged with wire fraud and money laundering, among other charges.
According to the indictment, between April 2017 and August 2017, the four men running EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin fraudulently promised investors and potential investors guaranteed fixed returns on virtual currency investments.
It is alleged that they falsely promised investors and potential investors that the returns were made possible through overseas virtual currency trading operations, while investors and potential…