A Fort Worth jury’s verdict convicts crypto founder Caleb Ward of investment fraud through Geosyn Mining, LLC. Ward, 41, was found guilty on November 17 after a six-day trial over clients’ cryptocurrency mining investments.
The jury convicted Ward on all counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three wire fraud counts. According to The Dallas Express report, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each charge.
Jury Convicts Crypto Founder On All Counts
US District Judge Mark Pittman presided over the trial, the report said, citing a Justice Department release. Ward had initially been indicted in May.
Geosyn, based in Fort Worth, collected investment funds for cryptocurrency mining equipment. The business solicited money from dozens of victims across America, according to the report.
Prosecutors said Ward promised to buy and host specialized mining equipment using clients’ funds. The company also promised to install specified machines on their behalf.
Ward claimed he had secured electricity rates of 4.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to the release. Clients were also told their machines were operating and mining Bitcoin at numerous facilities.
Clients Received Images Of Other Mining Machines
Many clients never received the equipment they purchased, the report said. Others learned that their machines had never been switched on or connected.
Ward and his co-conspirators allegedly sent customers photographs of other clients’ machines. They sometimes supplied serial numbers belonging to different miners to suggest equipment had been bought, delivered and installed.
Clients wired more than $4.5 million to Geosyn from November 2021 to January 2023, according to the release. Prosecutors said Ward transferred tens of thousands of dollars into accounts in his own name.
The release said client funds paid earlier investors in a manner consistent with a Ponzi-style scheme. Ward also spent investor money on personal expenses and business operating costs unrelated to clients’ specified machines.
That spending contradicted claims that every dollar would be dedicated to each client’s hardware and hosting, prosecutors said. The jury’s conviction followed evidence presented during the six-day trial.
SEC Had Brought A Separate Securities Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Geosyn, Ward and co-founder Jeremy McNutt in April 2024. That case concerned an alleged unregistered and fraudulent securities offering.
The federal criminal verdict convicts crypto founder Ward, while the SEC action identified both company co-founders. The report described the securities case separately from the jury’s criminal findings.
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FBI-Fort Worth investigated Ward’s case. Assistant US Attorneys Chad Meacham and Joshua Detzky prosecuted it with assistance from Assistant US Attorney Matthew Weybrecht.
US Attorney Ryan Raybould said Ward targeted North Texas residents who wanted to invest in emerging cryptocurrency technology. FBI-Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said the conviction demonstrated the agency’s commitment to investigating misuse of investor funds.
Ward now faces potential prison terms following the jury’s verdict. The report identifies a maximum of 20 years for each charge, rather than a sentence already imposed.
