US indicts South Dakota crypto investor over $20M fraud scheme

Benjamin Wiener, a 43-year-old from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, faces 29 federal charges after prosecutors said he ran a Ponzi scheme through his Benaiah companies targeting digital asset investors. The alleged fraud totaled roughly $20 million.

Wiener pleaded not guilty on July 10 and was released on bond. His trial is scheduled for September 15.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in June, details a familiar structure. The Benaiah entities, including Benaiah Capital LLC and Benaiah Holdings Inc., promised investors high returns on crypto investments. Instead, prosecutors said, money from new investors was used to pay off earlier ones.

According to court documents, the Benaiah companies raised about $25.1 million since 2018, mostly from investors in South Dakota and Minnesota. Of that, roughly $12 million was returned to investors. The remaining $13 million, prosecutors allege, included $5.7 million diverted to Wiener's personal expenses.

The charges include wire fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Each wire fraud and money laundering count carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. The aggravated identity theft counts add a mandatory two years.