{"id":171324,"date":"2021-02-05T08:19:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T05:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/crypto-escrow-agent-dodges-jail-after-lying-over-stolen-millions\/"},"modified":"2021-02-05T08:19:35","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T05:19:35","slug":"crypto-escrow-agent-dodges-jail-after-lying-over-stolen-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/crypto-escrow-agent-dodges-jail-after-lying-over-stolen-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"# Crypto escrow agent dodges jail after lying over stolen millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

“# Crypto escrow agent dodges jail after lying over stolen millions <\/strong>”
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A Manhattan federal judge has let an escrow agent walk free for deceiving a crypto investment manager about having purchased $3.25 million worth of Bitcoin on their behalf in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During a hearing held over video conference on Feb. 4, U.S district Judge Edgardo Ramos ordered Volantis Market Making founder John Barry Thompson of Pennsylvania to repay the $3.25 million to New York-based investment manager, Iterative OTC, and sentenced him to three years of supervised release. Thompson pleaded guilty in October 2020.<\/p>\n

According to legal publication Law 360<\/a>, Judge Ramos took into account Thompson\u2019s lack of ill-intent and the fact he had been victim of fraud himself, stating: <\/p>\n

“Mr. Thompson engaged in serious felonious conduct [but] we have to put that in context. This was an unusual fraud.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Judge Ramos was also willing to grant Thompson some leeway due to concerns regarding Covid-19\u2019s impact on the overcrowded U.S prison system. With the risk of contracting the virus being very high and a lack of readily available vaccinations in prisons, Ramos noted the U.S judicial system needed to \u201crelieve as much pressure as we can from the correctional facilities.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2018, Thompson\u2019s escrow firm Volantis was sent $3.25 million by Iterative OTC to purchase 500 Bitcoin on their behalf. However, while attempting to purchase the BTC from a third party, Thompson found himself at a loss when the sellers allegedly<\/a> took Iterative\u2019s $3.25 million without providing any Bitcoin in return.<\/p>\n

The two sellers, disbarred attorney Phillip Reichenthal and fugitive Randy Craig Levine, are now facing fraud charges in an ongoing court case before Manhattan U.S District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. <\/p>\n

Despite having lost the funds, Thompson lied to Iterative for days about the unsuccessful trade and falsified account statements to show a balance for the BTC that was never purchased.<\/p>\n

In July 2018, Thompson again falsified documents after a second client transferred Volantis $4 million to purchase BTC that was never acquired. Judge Ramos ordered Thompson to repay the $4 million. <\/p>\n

Thompson assured the judge that he would keep a clean slate moving forward, stressing that while he was guilty of deceiving his clients, his intention had been for the deals to succeed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can promise your honor \u2026 I will not be in trouble with the law again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n