Ohio man sentenced to 9 years for $10M crypto Ponzi

Rathnakishore Giri, an Ohio resident, was sentenced to nine years in prison for operating a multi-year bitcoin derivatives Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of at least $10 million, the Justice Department announced. Giri pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in 2024 and, in an amended plea agreement, admitted he solicited investor funds even after entering his guilty plea.

According to the Justice Department, Giri promised investors guaranteed returns and assured them their principal was safe. The agency wrote, “Giri falsely promised investors that he would generate lucrative returns with no risk to their principal investment amount, which he guaranteed to return.” The DOJ added, “In reality, Giri often used money provided by new investors to repay old investors — a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.”

Federal regulators traced the scheme to entities Giri controlled, including SR Private Equity LLC and NBD Eidetic Capital LLC. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Giri used those entities beginning in 2019 to operate a bitcoin derivatives business and filed an enforcement action in August 2022 against Giri, his companies and his parents. The Justice Department indicted Giri in November 2022 on five counts of wire fraud; he later pleaded guilty to one count and was sentenced on Monday.

The DOJ said Giri had a record of investment failures and a history of losing investors' principal. The agency noted he misled investors about the reasons for delays when they sought to cash out or recover their guaranteed principal, quoting that he had “a long history of losing investors’ principal investments.”

The case is part of broader criminal enforcement and regulatory activity related to crypto fraud. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that crypto-related losses reached more than $11 billion in 2025, a 22% increase from 2024, and that it received at least 181,565 crypto-related complaints that year. The center has reported that many scams target elderly investors.

The Justice Department did not provide details about restitution or asset forfeiture in its sentencing release. The nine-year term follows coordinated action by federal agencies that investigated alleged fraud in the bitcoin derivatives market.