A Gen-Zer nonetheless residing together with his dad was busted for stealing $16 million in cryptocurrency from dozens of individuals — utilizing the funds to gamble and shamelessly bragging in regards to the jaw-dropping digital heist on-line, Brooklyn prosecutors mentioned Friday.
Ronald Spektor, 23, allegedly scammed roughly 100 victims — starting from cops to single mothers — out of their hard-earned financial savings whereas working the scheme from his father’s home in Sheepshead Bay, in line with Brooklyn District Lawyer Eric Gonzalez.
“This was no completely different than somebody robbing them, fairly actually robbing them for all the things they’d. It’s heartbreaking,” Gonzalez mentioned at a press convention.
The blockchain bandit contacted victims all around the nation whereas posing as a consultant from the crypto alternate firm Coinbase, and claimed their cash was in danger from a hacker, the DA’s workplace mentioned.
The younger con artist then satisfied his marks — together with victims in Virginia, California and Pennsylvania— to maneuver the digital dough to a special on-line “pockets” that he secretly had entry to, prosecutors mentioned.
Spektor then allegedly cleaned out these wallets, laundered the cash and spent hundreds of thousands of {dollars} playing — earlier than boasting about it on-line below the eerily apt deal with @lolimfeelingevil, in line with prosecutors.
“He allegedly tricked many unsuspecting folks to switch their life financial savings to wallets he managed, blew their hard-earned cash playing on-line, after which bragged about his profitable thefts,” Gonzalez mentioned within the press launch.
Spektor additionally ran a channel on the messaging app Telegram dubbed “Blockchain enemies,” the place he allegedly bragged about his scams and admitted to dropping $6 million of cryptocurrency money whereas playing, in line with prosecutors.
The accused crypto criminal was arrested Dec. 3 and pleaded not responsible to grand larceny and first-degree cash laundering.
At a listening to on Friday, prosecutors requested the choose to extend Spektor’s bail situations from $500,000 money or $1 million bond — after studying he was allegedly plotting an “escape” to Mexico, Canada or the nation of Georgia.
“He took concrete steps to execute that, together with sending $600,000 of crypto to a person in Georgia, the nation,” Assistant District Lawyer Alona Katz mentioned on the listening to.
Prosecutors mentioned they discovered about Spektor’s alleged plan to flee once they recovered a brand new cellphone belonging to him by way of a search warrant and located texts about it.
He had spent months “crisscrossing” the US in Greyhound buses earlier than returning to his dwelling and being arrested, prosecutors mentioned.
Spektor’s father, who was not named in courtroom, can also be an “energetic suspect” within the investigation as a consequence of “unexplained wealth” that may very well be linked to the crypto rip-off, in line with prosecutors.
Brooklyn Supreme Court docket Justice Danny Chun agreed to extend Spektor’s bond to $2.5 million.
Spektor is due again in courtroom Jan. 6, 2026.
