Mansions and sports cars: former SafeMoon CEO sentenced to 8 years in prison for crypto scheme
Quick Take
- Braden John Karony was also ordered to forfeit about $7.5 million and two residential properties, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
- Karony was able to get $9 million in crypto and used some of that money on a $2.2 million home in Utah, an Audi R8 sports car, a Tesla, and a custom Ford F-550, prosecutors said.
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Former CEO of SafeMoon US LLC, Braden John Karony, was sentenced to just over eight years in prison after prosecutors say he lied to investors in order to bankroll a lavish lifestyle that included "mansions, sports cars and custom trucks."
Karony, 29, of Utah, was also ordered to forfeit about $7.5 million and two residential properties, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday.
"Not only did Braden John Karony abuse his position as CEO, but he also betrayed his investors' trust by stealing more than nine million dollars in digital assets from his company to fund his lavish lifestyle," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle in the statement.
In May, a federal jury convicted Karony of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. In 2021, SafeMoon LLC issued the digital assets known as SafeMoon, which had once reached a market cap of more than $8 billion.
Every SafeMoon transaction was automatically subject to a 10% tax so that a holder who transferred the token to another user, part of that would be retained, prosecutors said.
"As marketed to SafeMoon investors, the proceeds of SafeMoon’s 10% tax were split into two 5% tranches, the proceeds of which were supposed to benefit holders of SafeMoon in specific ways," prosecutors said, part of which went to liquidity pools.
While the project told investors that half of the 10% fee would be "locked" in a liquidity pool, U.S. prosecutors said that Karony and co-conspirators fraudulently diverted millions in liquidity from the pool for personal gains. Karony was able to get $9 million in crypto and used some of that money on a $2.2 million home in Utah, an Audi R8 sports car, a Tesla, and a custom Ford F-550, prosecutors said.
Co-conspirator Thomas Smith previously pleaded guilty in February 2025 and is awaiting sentencing, while another co-conspirator, Kyle Nagy, is still at large.
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