A U.S. jury indicted a crypto investor on 29 counts for alleged $20 million fraud.

PANews July 16 reports, citing The Block, that a U.S. federal grand jury indicted Benjamin Paul Wiener, a resident of Sioux Falls, on 29 counts, accusing him of involvement in a fraud scheme totaling up to $20 million. The victims are spread across South Dakota and Minnesota, with dozens of people affected.

Prosecutors allege that Wiener provided material false statements to victims to induce them to hand over cash and digital currency to his company. The indictment shows that the scheme involved dozens of victims in South Dakota and Minnesota, with estimated total losses of approximately $20 million. After receiving the funds, Wiener transferred money through financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges to conceal the source, ownership, and control of the funds, and then used the money for personal expenses. When investors’ funds ran out or clients requested repayment of principal, Wiener recruited new investors and used the newly obtained funds to repay earlier investors. It is reported that he used eight entities, including multiple limited liability companies, as instruments to carry out the scheme.