Rodney Burton, Wire-Fraud Conspiracy, Maryland 2024

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging Rodney ‘Bitcoin Rodney,’ Burton, 56, of Miami, Florida, and Prince George’s County, Maryland, for his role as an alleged promoter of a $1.8 billion fraud scheme.

Burton is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, seven counts of money laundering, and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

According to court documents, from June 2020 to May 2024, Burton and his co-conspirators conspired to enrich themselves by promoting HyperFund — a purportedly legitimate investment platform — and successor platforms. HyperFund’s promotional materials allegedly made various false claims, including claims that investors who purchased HyperFund ‘memberships’ would receive between 0.5 and 1 percent daily in passive rewards until the company either doubled or tripled the investor’s initial investment.

Victims of the conspiracy included investors from Maryland. HyperFund allegedly attempted to convince investors that the cryptocurrency platform could make such payments by claiming that it would disburse payments, in part, from its revenues from large-scale crypto-mining operations. But the truth was, HyperFund did not have such operations.

Beginning in 2021, HyperFund allegedly started blocking investor withdrawals. The superseding indictment further alleges that Burton spent HyperFund investor proceeds on, among other things, luxury condominiums, sports cars, and a yacht.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. Individuals charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty at a later criminal proceeding.

If convicted, Burton faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for each count of wire fraud. Additionally, Burton is facing 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering and five years in prison for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes commended the IRS-CI and HSI-New York for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Spencer L. Todd and Christina A. Hoffman who are prosecuting the federal case.

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