On Wednesday, September 23, 2026, News12 reported that a Brooklyn man who stole nearly $16 million in cryptocurrency from Coinbase customers nationwide has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison.
Ronald Spektor, 23, of Sheepshead Bay, targeted roughly 100 victims across the country while operating under the online alias “@lolimfeelingevil,” according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. Coinbase is a major cryptocurrency exchange that lets users buy, sell, and store digital assets.
Prosecutors said Spektor impersonated Coinbase representatives, warning victims their accounts had been compromised and were at risk of being hacked. He then persuaded them to move their crypto holdings into what they were told were secure wallets under their own control. In reality, authorities said, Spektor controlled those wallets, allowing him to drain victims’ funds and launder the proceeds.
Some victims lost $1 million or more, prosecutors said, and Spektor reportedly boasted about the scheme on platforms including Discord and Telegram.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the sentencing held Spektor accountable for what he called a “brazen, long-running social engineering scam” that amounted to a digital robbery of nearly 100 people.
Spektor pleaded guilty on September 2 to charges in a 31-count indictment as part of a plea agreement that set his sentence, even though prosecutors had sought a term of seven to 21 years.
In addition to his prison sentence, Spektor was ordered to forfeit more than $500,000 in cash, cryptocurrency, and other property, and to pay nearly $16 million in restitution to his victims.
Source: News12
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