A federal jury in Las Vegas has found Brent C. Kovar guilty of orchestrating a $24 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 400 investors, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
Kovar operated Profit Connect, a Las Vegas-based firm that from late 2017 through July 2021 claimed to deploy artificial intelligence software on a supercomputer for cryptocurrency mining and transaction verification. He solicited investors with promises of fixed annual returns between 15% and 30%, a full money-back guarantee, and assertions that the company held hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto reserves.
LAS VEGAS – A federal jury convicted Las Vegas business owner Brent C. Kovar of operating a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that fraudulently obtained $24 million from at least 400 investors by promising high returns and falsely claiming his company was backed by substantial… pic.twitter.com/LOoLzRJg4C
— US Attorney Nevada (@USAO_NV) August 24, 2026
Prosecutors demonstrated that Kovar knew Profit Connect was unprofitable, possessed no reserves, could not deliver the advertised returns, and had no means of honoring the guarantee. Investor funds financed company operations, employee gifts, and Kovar’s personal residence, with a portion recycled to earlier investors under the guise of mining proceeds.
Kovar also falsely represented to investors that their deposits were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to Ryan Korner, special agent in charge at the FDIC Office of Inspector General, which investigated the case alongside the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Division.
Following a nine-day trial, Kovar was convicted on 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of money laundering. He is scheduled for sentencing on November 30 and faces a statutory maximum of 280 years, though the actual term will be determined by the court under federal sentencing guidelines.
A Scheme First Halted in 2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission shut down Profit Connect five years ago, securing a restraining order and asset freeze in July 2021. At that time, the regulator estimated losses at up to $12 million affecting at least 277 investors—roughly half the scope now established by prosecutors. The SEC found that over 90% of the company’s revenue came from investors, with none directed toward actual cryptocurrency trading.
Kovar ran the operation with his mother, Joy, then 86. The SEC reported that $1.2 million flowed into her personal account via ten equal transfers over less than two months, with an additional $1.7 million extracted through cash withdrawals, credit card payments, and a vehicle purchase. Monday’s announcement names only Brent Kovar.
The regulator had previously pursued Kovar, filing a civil injunction in 2009 against him and his father, Glenn, over a pump-and-dump scheme operated through Skyway Global that also cost investors $12 million.
Investment fraud remains the largest category of cryptocurrency-related crime reported to the FBI, which logged $11.37 billion in losses for 2025—a 22% increase year over year. The Consumer Federation of America estimates total losses at $80.7 billion when accounting for unreported fraud, with Americans over 60 accounting for $4.4 billion of the reported total.
