Analysis
October 9, 2024 3:35 PM
David Kagel, an 86-year-old former attorney from California, has been sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $14 million after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit commodity fraud. The sentencing, delivered by Las Vegas federal court judge Gloria Navarro, follows Kagel's admission of running a multimillion-dollar crypto Ponzi scheme.
Kagel, currently in hospice care at a seniors facility in Las Vegas, will serve his probation there unless he leaves, in which case he must wear a monitoring device. Prosecutors charged Kagel last year, revealing that between December 2017 and June 2022, he and two accomplices lured victims into a fraudulent crypto bot trading scheme, promising high returns with no risk.
The scheme defrauded victims of at least $15 million, with Kagel using his law firm's letterhead to promote the scam and build trust. Victims believed they were investing in a legitimate trading bot that guaranteed returns of 20% to 100% within 30 days. Kagel falsely claimed to hold 1,000 Bitcoin in escrow to secure investments and misrepresented his crypto investment history to gain trust.
In 2023, the California Supreme Court revoked Kagel's law license for misappropriating $25,000 in client funds, following previous suspensions in 1997 and 2012. Kagel's accomplices, David Saffron and Vincent Mazzotta, have pleaded not guilty and await trial in Los Angeles next April.
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