A Connecticut man has been indicted in connection with a cryptocurrency scheme during which authorities allege he solicited investments from a number of individuals and misplaced greater than $900,000 of their cash on a gambling web site.
Elmin Redzepagic, 24, of Wolcott appeared on Thursday in federal courtroom in Hartford the place he pleaded not responsible to all costs, based on the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
On Jan. 20, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Redzepagic with seven counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of worldwide cash laundering and three counts of making a false assertion to IRS Legal Investigation brokers.
Officers allege Redzepagic — who lately lived in Florida — was concerned in a fraud scheme between Could 2021 and March 2025. In response to authorities, he allegedly represented himself as a cryptocurrency investor who earned excessive charges of return.
As soon as Redzepagic had investments from a number of victims, he allegedly instructed them that they had earned a “substantial revenue” however needed to pay further charges, known as “fuel charges,” to withdraw it, authorities stated.
“Redzepagic claimed to work as half of a workforce that included somebody often known as ‘The Chef,’ who supposedly led the operation and decided who, how, and when traders would obtain their income,” the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace wrote in a press release.
In response to officers, Redzepagic didn’t make investments victims’ funds in cryptocurrency and as an alternative transferred them to Stake.com, an offshore gambling platform. Authorities allege he used the gambling web site to obtain and maintain proceeds of the scheme, to generate cryptocurrency addresses for victims to make use of to switch Bitcoin to him and to make giant “lulling” funds to victims all through the course of the scheme.
Investigators consider Redzepagic misplaced a complete of about $950,000 price of funds from a number of victims on the gambling web site. Throughout an interview with IRS Legal Investigation brokers in September 2023, he allegedly made a number of false statements, officers stated.
The costs Redzepagic faces expose him to a complete of 375 years in jail, authorities famous. He’s free on a $500,000 bond.
