CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — A South Carolina businessman pleaded guilty in federal court in Massachusetts to misusing COVID funds.
David Breen, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property and misappropriation of COVID-19 funds for personal use.
The U.S. Department of Justice said he spent more than $1.2 million in Economic Injury and Disaster Loan funds that he obtained from the U.S. Small Business Administration to build a home and purchase motor vehicles. The SBA provided loans to small businesses that suffered economic injury because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He applied for Economic Injury and Disaster Loan funds in March 2022 on behalf of “Fun Zone,” an entity through which he operated “Pinz,” a bowling alley and entertainment venue in Milford, Massachusetts. Breen entered into a loan agreement with the SBA in which he agreed to use the loan proceeds as working…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025