New York Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Alleged Manipulation of $7 Million Cryptocurrency Investment Scheme

On July 10th, as per an announcement from the Supreme Court of the United States, Douglas Jae Woo Kim was handed a 48-month federal prison term today for defrauding investors of more than $7 million in cryptocurrency and other funds. This sentence was pronounced by Senior District Judge Charles R. Breyer of the United States District Court. During a three-week trial in February 2025, the 32-year-old New York resident Kim was found guilty by a federal jury of 14 counts including wire fraud, international money laundering, and money laundering. One count of international money laundering was dismissed. During today's sentencing hearing, Judge Breyer, due to jurisdictional reasons, dismissed one of the money laundering counts related to monetary instruments. Court documents and trial evidence showed that from October 2017 to June 2020, after moving to San Francisco, Kim defrauded multiple family and friends who were investors by posing as a legitimate cryptocurrency trader. He falsely claimed to need short-term liquidity funds for cryptocurrency trading or other legitimate business purposes, assured the victims that the loans were "zero risk or very low risk," promised high returns, and claimed to have sufficient funds for personal guarantees.