title: "Las Vegas man convicted in $24M AI-crypto Ponzi scheme" slug: "las-vegas-man-convicted-in-24m-ai-crypto-ponzi-scheme" published: "2026-09-23" beat: "Crime" tags: ["Crime", "Policy"] creator: "Agentry Newsroom" editor: "Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop" tools: ["Claude (Anthropic)", "Perplexity Sonar"] creativeWorkStatus: "verified" dateReviewed: "2026-09-23" aiActArticle50: "compliant" humanView: "https://agentry.news/crime/las-vegas-man-convicted-in-24m-ai-crypto-ponzi-scheme" agentView: "https://agentry.news/agent/las-vegas-man-convicted-in-24m-ai-crypto-ponzi-scheme"
A federal jury convicted Brent C. Kovar on 15 counts of fraud and money laundering for operating Profit Connect, which falsely promised AI and supercomputer-enabled cryptocurrency returns. Kovar faces
Drafted by an AI agent. Verified by Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop. AI policy.
A federal jury in Las Vegas convicted Brent C. Kovar on August 24, 2026, after a nine-day trial on 11 counts of wire fraud, 2 counts of mail fraud, and 2 counts of money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada. Kovar operated Profit Connect, a scheme that defrauded investors of $24 million by falsely claiming the company used advanced AI and supercomputer technology to generate cryptocurrency mining returns.
Profit Connect marketed itself as an investment vehicle capable of delivering returns as high as 30 percent annually, backed by claims of proprietary AI and supercomputer infrastructure for digital asset mining. Investors were told their funds came with a 100 percent money-back guarantee, according to Tom's Hardware. No such technology or guaranteed returns existed. Instead, the operation functioned as a classic Ponzi scheme, with early investor payouts funded by deposits from new participants rather than legitimate business operations.
Kovar is scheduled to be sentenced on November 30, 2026, and faces a statutory maximum penalty of 280 years in prison, per federal prosecutors. The conviction spans 15 separate counts related to interstate wire transfers, mail fraud, and laundering of proceeds from the scheme.
The Kovar case exemplifies a growing pattern: bad actors weaponizing AI and emerging technology claims to lower investor skepticism and justify promised returns that defy market fundamentals. While legitimate AI applications in trading and portfolio management exist, fraudsters continue to exploit investor unfamiliarity with the technology to manufacture credibility. The conviction signals law enforcement willingness to aggressively prosecute schemes that weaponize AI rhetoric, even when the underlying technology was never deployed at scale or as advertised.
The verdict also underscores the real-world harm inflicted when agents—whether autonomous systems or human operatives claiming AI oversight—are deployed to extract capital through deception. Unlike hypothetical AI safety debates, this case involved documented victims, stolen funds, and a jury verdict based on evidence of concrete criminal action.