A federal judge in New Hampshire has ruled that a man sentenced to eight years in prison for running an unlicensed Bitcoin exchange business must pay more than $3.5 million in restitution to 29 victims. did.
Prosecutors say liberal activist and radio show host Ian Freeman set up a business for scammers who ran romance scams targeting older women, with “the ultimate goal of permanently cutting victims off from their money.” He said that he had made it function as a “stage”.
The verdict was filed Friday and announced Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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“Ian Freeman’s money laundering operations have caused unnecessary suffering to many vulnerable people. The pain he has caused these victims can never be taken away, but the dedicated prosecution of this case We are grateful that our team was able to make many of them financially healthy,” the U.S. Attorney said. Jane Young said in a news release.
Freeman’s lawyer, Mark Sisti, said the sentence was a negotiated agreement and he was satisfied with the outcome.
A New Hampshire man has been ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution for running an unlicensed cryptocurrency business. (Fox News)
Freeman, 43, was sentenced last year. He said he did not believe he broke any laws and that he was trying to get people to adopt Bitcoin. He also discovered fraud and protected many potential fraud victims, he said. He apologized for not being able to help everyone.
Freeman said he has devised a series of questions for customers, including whether a third party is coercing them into a transaction or whether they are being coerced into doing so. Some victims reportedly lied about their circumstances. Freeman also said he didn’t know about the fraud victims until he saw their stories on the news.
He was convicted on eight charges in December 2022, but the money laundering conviction was later overturned by a judge. Prosecutors have appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Mr. Freeman was convicted of the remaining charges, including operating an unlicensed money transfer business, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Freeman’s lawyers are appealing the conviction.
