Las Vegas Crypto Ponzi Operator Convicted in $24 Million Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme

A federal jury in Nevada has convicted Las Vegas business owner Brent C. Kovar over a cryptocurrency-focused investment scheme that obtained about US$24 million from at least 400 investors.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada said on August 24, 2026 that, following a nine-day trial, Kovar was found guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering.

Profit Connect promised 15% to 30% annual returns

According to the Justice Department, Kovar owned Profit Connect, a Las Vegas company that operated from late 2017 until July 2021. He represented to investors that the business used artificial-intelligence software running on a supercomputer to mine cryptocurrency and verify cryptocurrency transactions.

Prosecutors said Kovar promised fixed returns of 15% to 30% APR and a 100% money-back guarantee, while also claiming that Profit Connect was backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency reserves.

The jury found that those representations were false. The company was not profitable, did not have the claimed reserves and had no legitimate basis to pay the promised returns or guarantee investors’ principal.

The Justice Department said Kovar instead used investor money to operate Profit Connect, purchase gifts for employees, buy a house for himself and make payments to earlier investors while presenting those payments as proceeds generated by cryptocurrency mining and transaction-verification activity.

Money laundering convictions form part of the verdict

The verdict includes two money laundering counts in addition to the fraud offences. The Justice Department’s public release does not describe the specific transactions underlying those two laundering counts, so no additional laundering methodology has been inferred.

Kovar is scheduled to be sentenced on November 30, 2026. The Justice Department said the combined statutory maximum exposure is 280 years in prison, although the sentence will be determined by the federal judge under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General.

The case illustrates how cryptocurrency branding can be used to give conventional Ponzi mechanics a technology narrative, while the accompanying money-laundering convictions underscore the financial-crime exposure created when investor funds are diverted and recycled through an ostensibly legitimate investment operation.