Canadian man pleads guilty to $13 million crypto fraud

A 20-year-old Canadian man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering after orchestrating a social engineering scheme that stole more than $13 million in cryptocurrency. Trenton Richard David Johnston entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Florida on Tuesday, admitting to a fraud that financed a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars, private jets, and high-end rentals in Miami.

According to court documents, Johnston and his accomplices began their scheme around January 2024. The operation relied on impersonating employees of trusted companies, including Google and hardware wallet provider Trezor, to trick victims into surrendering access to their crypto wallets. In one instance in February 2024, Johnston posed as a Google employee and convinced a victim their email and Coinbase accounts were compromised, leading to the theft of approximately $41,000 in Ether. Weeks later, the group targeted a California resident by pretending to be representatives from Google and Trezor, persuading the victim that their wallet was under attack. They subsequently drained roughly $13 million in Bitcoin from the account.

Authorities say Johnston, who had entered the United States...