Crypto fraud: Disbarred attorney pleads guilty to crypto scam

TL;DR Breakdown

• Philip Reichenthal was working with Randy Levine to commit crypto fraud.
• Reichenthal has potentially stolen over $5 million in crypto fraud.

The New York State Attorney General’s Office, led by Damian Williams, has announced that disbarred attorney Philip Reichenthal has pleaded guilty to crypto fraud. Reichenthal pleaded guilty in front of the authority in Manhattan that he scammed crypto investors into buying Bitcoin. The accused worked with Randy Levine, who maintained several aliases in order not to be recognized.

The Reichenthal case picked up after the authority recognized that billions of dollars in cryptos were stolen from him. The attorney was working as an intermediary to hide the fraud that Levine raised.

American attorney involved in crypto fraud

Philip Reichenthal, a 78-year-old attorney, is going through dark days after being accused and proven to have participated in one of the largest crypto fraud scandals in the US. The attorney, arrested on September 14, 2020, has claimed responsibility for the crypto theft.

Damian Williams, a US Attorney, said Rechenthal had the power to keep the merchants’ funds safe, but he diverted them into his wallet. Under this charge, Williams believes that the defendant will pay for his crime.

According to reports, Levine convinced a director of a crypto escrow company to transfer to his partner the sum of $3 million that was aimed at buying Bitcoin, but it was all a scam. After the businessman sent the money, Reichenthal transferred over $2 million from the fund to a Guatemalan account of Randy Levine.

Reichenthal and Levine scam with Bitcoin promise

In 2019, Levine persuaded a citizen in Florida who made a living from crypto operations to buy him Bitcoin he supposedly had in his possession. Again the criminal asked the investor to send $2 million to an account controlled by Reichenthal.

After the transfer went through to Reichenthal’s account, the attorney sent about $1.9 million to Levine’s Mexican bank wallet. Then Levine diverted the funds to a Russian wallet to ensure no traces of the scam.

The crypto fraud by Levine and Reichenthal concluded in mid-2020 when the attorney in charge of receiving and disbursing the investment money was arrested. The New York authority is still on the lookout for Randy Levine, who is at large and could be the operations leader.