On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Hartford Courant reported that a 25-year-old Wolcott, Connecticut, man pleaded guilty in federal court to charges stemming from a cryptocurrency fraud scheme that cost more than 10 people roughly $1.1 million, which he then lost gambling online.
Elmin Redzepagic, who was formally charged in February, entered his pleas Monday in Bridgeport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. He admitted to two counts of wire fraud, one count of international money laundering and one count of making a false statement to IRS criminal investigation agents.
Redzepagic remains free on a $500,000 bond. Sentencing is set for January 11, 2027, and he faces a maximum of 65 years in prison, federal officials said.
Authorities said Redzepagic presented himself as a cryptocurrency investor who earned high returns, and the scheme ran from May 2021 to March 2025. After collecting money from investors, he told them they had made a “substantial profit” but needed to pay additional “gas fees” before they could withdraw it, officials said.
Investigators said he claimed to be part of a team led by a figure known as “The Chef,” who supposedly decided “who, how, and when investors would receive their profits.” Authorities found that Redzepagic never invested the victims’ money in cryptocurrency. Instead, he sent it to Stake.com, an offshore gambling site.
Federal officials said he used the platform to hold the funds and to generate cryptocurrency addresses that victims used to send him Bitcoin. He also used it to issue large “lulling” payments to victims during the scheme, officials said.
His gambling losses on the site totaled about $1,159,945, authorities said, and the money came from more than 10 victims. Officials also said he made multiple false statements when IRS criminal investigation agents interviewed him in September 2023.
Source: Hartford Courant
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