NEW YORK - A former Deutsche Bank investment banker was ordered by a U.S. judge on Thursday to spend 41 months in prison, after pleading guilty to a Ponzi-like fraud in which he promised investors guaranteed returns from cryptocurrency trading.
Russell allegedly told friends, former college classmates and onetime Deutsche Bank colleagues he could generate 25% returns in three months, and had doubled some investors' money in earlier three-month periods. Prosecutors also said that in a separate fraud, Russell obtained at least 140 credit, debit and identification cards in the names of third parties, and used stolen card information to open online gambling accounts and make fraudulent purchases.
In a letter to the sentencing judge this month, Russell said he was"deeply remorseful for creating victims out of many of my closest friends and acquaintances," whose money he squandered to fund a"crippling" gambling and substance abuse addiction.