passed the sentencing<\/a> in a Brooklyn federal court on Monday. Karony was convicted last year in May, when a federal jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.<\/p>\nBesides the prison term, Karony has been asked to forfeit $7.5 million and two residential properties. He would also be required to pay restitution for the damages caused, but the exact amount had not been determined.<\/p>\n
\u201cKarony lied to investors from all walks of life\u2014including military veterans and hard working-Americans\u2014and defrauded thousands of victims in order to buy mansions, sports cars, and custom trucks,\u201d U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr said in an accompanying statement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karony and company misled investors<\/h1>\n
Karony and his co-conspirators\u2014Thomas Smith, who served as SafeMoon\u2019s chief technology officer, and Kyle Nagy, the project\u2019s creator\u2014had orchestrated a major fraud and managed to defraud over a million investors. According to details submitted in court, they imposed a 10% tax on every transaction, marketing it as a mechanism to support liquidity pools that were supposedly locked to prevent fund withdrawals by insiders.<\/p>\n
Federal prosecutors were able to prove that the defendants maintained secret access to these pools and were effectively using them as a slush fund to finance their lavish lifestyle.<\/p>\n
The SafeMoon token (SFM) at one point managed to reach a market capitalization of over $8 billion during the 2021 crypto boom, but subsequently crashed more than 98% after the exposure of the fraud and the bankruptcy of the company in late 2023.<\/p>\n
Smith pleaded guilty in February 2025 and testified against Karony in a deal that led to his sentencing. Meanwhile, Nagy remains at large, with some reports suggesting he may have fled to Russia.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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