New York Man Sentenced to Prison for $1.4M Crypto Fraud Scheme

A New York man has been sentenced to prison for running a $1.4 million crypto fraud scheme that targeted victims through fake Telegram accounts.

Noman Saleem, 39, was given a 15-month sentence and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow in connection with the wire fraud charges he pleaded guilty to in September 2025.

The scheme relied on false staking offers and private investor groups to attract victims, who transferred crypto assets directly to Saleem's wallets under the belief that their funds would be used for legitimate staking activities on blockchain networks. However, investigators found that the assets were never deployed into actual staking protocols and remained under Saleem's control.

The Department of Justice argued that the scheme relied heavily on social engineering tactics rather than failures in blockchain technology itself, emphasizing that impersonation scams remain a significant threat to the digital asset industry.