Baltimore, Maryland – A Florida man pled guilty in federal court in connection with a $1.8-billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
Rodney “Bitcoin Rodney,” Burton, 56, of Miami, who also has a residence in Prince George’s County, Maryland, pled guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business stemming from his role as a promoter of the cryptocurrency scam.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington D.C. Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Pete Gizas, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – New York.
According to the plea agreement, from June 2020 to January 2022, Burton conspired to provide unlicensed money transmitting services to promote HyperFund and used investors’ funds to enrich himself. HyperFund, which purported as a legitimate cryptocurrency investment platform, but in truth, was a global wire-fraud scheme that obtained $1.8 billion from victim-investors worldwide.
HyperFund’s promotional materials made various false claims, including that investors who purchased HyperFund “memberships” would receive between 0.5 and 1 percent daily in passive rewards until the company either doubled or tripled the investor’s initial investment. Additionally, HyperFund attempted to convince investors that it could generate such high rates of return by claiming that it would disburse payments, in part, from its revenues from large-scale crypto-mining operations. But HyperFund did not have such operations. Beginning in 2021, HyperFund began blocking investor withdrawals.
As part of the scheme, Burton controlled several companies that purported to offer consulting services but were in fact unlicensed money transmitting businesses. He personally received at least $7,851,711 in proceeds from the operation of the unlicensed money transmitting business, including from HyperFund victim-investors located in Maryland.
Burton faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, July 23, at 11 a.m., in front of U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the IRS-CI and HSI for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina A. Hoffman who is prosecuting the federal case.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, please visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.
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