- A scammer who operate the Chet Mining crypto mining operation has been jailed for three years
- Chet Stojanovich solicited $2 million from investors but spend most of the money on himself
- Stojanovich also lied to the judge in his trial
The founder of the Chet Mining crypto scam has been jailed for three years after pleading guilty in November to soliciting more than $2 million from investors between 2019 and 2022. Chester (Chet) Stojanovich misappropriated his victims’ money and failed to provide them with the crypto mining hardware and cloud mining services they had purchased from him, leading to his arrest in April last year. He was sentenced last week to three years in prison having admitted one count of wire fraud last year.
Chet Mining Defrauded Investors Over Mining Equipment and Services
Between at least 2019 and April 2022, Stojanovich controlled various companies, including Chet Mining Co. LLC, and used them to engage in fraudulent activities. Stojanovich’s scheme involved deceiving individuals seeking to purchase miners and miner-hosting services by falsely claiming that he would purchase miners on their behalf and provide them with miner-hosting services.
In reality, Stojanovich failed to provide many of the promised miners and hosting services, and instead misappropriated his customers’ funds for personal expenses, such as chartered air flights, hotel rooms, limousines and private parties.
Stojanovich Lied to Judge
More than a dozen victims were defrauded by Stojanovich and his companies to the tune of more than $2 million. Eventually, six of these victims sued Stojanovich in a civil case, but he sought to obstruct their efforts by lying to the presiding district judge about the existence and location of electronic evidence in the case.
As a result of his fraudulent activities, Stojanovich was sentenced to prison, three years of supervised release, forfeiture of $2.1 million, and restitution to his victims of the same amount.
