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July 19, 2024

Former cryptocurrency firm exec pleads guilty after stealing $4.5M from employer

Contributed | pixabay.com/illustrations/ethereum-currency-trading-3660218/
By Andrew Larson

A former executive of a cryptocurrency research firm has pleaded guilty in connection with his theft of about $4.5 million from his employer.

Authorities say 31-year-old Dylan Meissner, of Westport, was the firm’s vice president of finance and had access to its cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts. Court documents did not disclose the name of his employer.

In January 2022, Meissner obtained a loan of about $170,000 from his employer in the form of 50 Ethereum, a type of decentralized blockchain cryptocurrency. He stated that he would use the funds “in an attempt to avoid a substantial loss in certain cryptocurrency investments he had made using his personal funds,” according to authorities.

From February 2022 until his termination in November 2022, Meissner continued to divert his employer’s funds for his own use, then covered up his fraud by making false entries in the firm’s books and records, authorities said.

On Thursday, Meissner pleaded guilty in Hartford federal court to wire fraud, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. He is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea on Oct. 11.

Meissner also faces a restitution order of $4.6 million, which includes the money he stole from his employer and the loan he failed to repay.

He has been released on a $100,000 bond.

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