Missouri man sentenced to 3 years in prison for cryptocurrency and tax fraud

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut recently announced that Missouri resident Lyell Champagne Jr. was sentenced to three years in federal prison for fraud and tax crimes involving cryptocurrency. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). According to court documents, the Department of Justice explained that between March 2021 and April 2022, the man and accomplice Kristian Gupta attempted to steal funds from victims' bank accounts by obtaining online credentials and transferring funds to cryptocurrency accounts they controlled. The two also tried to win over bank insiders, but an undercover investigation thwarted their conspiracy. In addition to this fraud, Champagne also filed false tax returns for a non-existent company "Shireberk International" between 2018 and 2021 and received a refund of $34,449,935. Champagne pleaded guilty to bank fraud and false claims on June 11. His accomplice Gupta pleaded guilty in April and will be sentenced on September 19. (Bitcoin.com)