A Rhode Island man is being sentenced for a cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
The Department of Justice says Jeremy Spence of Bristol has been ordered to serve three-and-a-half years behind bars and pay nearly three-million dollars in restitution.
Prosecutors say Spence lied to his many investors about trading profits.
In documents released by the Department of Justice officials stated:
"To forestall redemptions by investors, and to continue to raise money from investors to fund his scheme, Spence generated fictitious account balances, which he made available to investors online. Instead of accurately reporting the trading losses he was incurring, the account balances falsely indicated to investors that they were making money by investing with Spence. To hide his trading losses, Spence used new investor funds to pay back other investors in a Ponzi-like fashion."
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