A federal jury has convicted Las Vegas businessman Brent Kovar of fraud and money laundering after prosecutors said his Profit Connect operation collected $24 million from at least 400 investors through false claims about cryptocurrency mining, investment returns and company reserves. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada, Kovar was found guilty on 15 counts after a nine-day trial on 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 30, 2026 and faces a statutory maximum penalty of 280 years in prison. The case had originally been laid out in a February 2025 indictment that charged Kovar with 12 wire fraud counts, three mail fraud counts and three money laundering counts, exposing him to a potential 330 years behind bars, though jurors convicted him on 15 of those counts.
Kovar owned Profit Connect from late 2017 through July 2021, presenting the Las Vegas company as a profitable operation that used artificial intelligence software running on a supercomputer to mine cryptocurrency and verify crypto transactions. As reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, investors were promised fixed annual returns of between 15% and 30%, along with a 100% money-back guarantee. Prosecutors said Kovar also claimed Profit Connect was supported by hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency reserves, despite knowing the company had no such reserves and could not generate the returns being offered. Investigators said Kovar promoted the scheme through a company website, a YouTube video and a PowerPoint presentation, and even leased office and warehouse space that was presented to investors as a data center. Investments were funneled through an entity called Profit Connect Wealth Services.
Federal prosecutors said Profit Connect was not profitable and had no legitimate source of income capable of supporting its promised returns or guarantee. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Kovar used money received from investors to keep the business operating, purchase gifts for employees and buy a house for himself. Part of the money was also sent back to existing investors while being presented as proceeds generated through cryptocurrency mining and transaction verification. The structure allowed Profit Connect to continue making payments despite lacking the investment activity and reserves Kovar had described to customers. Rather than generating profits through mining, Kovar allegedly used incoming investor cash to keep the business running, buy gifts for employees and purchase a house for himself, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the FDIC OIG, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Brister and James Gaeta prosecuting. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner said Kovar lured victims with false claims that the investment was insured by the FDIC. David Lowe, acting special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's San Francisco Field Office, said the operation relied on 'false guarantees, fabricated profits and nonexistent reserves' which left investors facing financial losses. FBI Las Vegas Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto noted that investors believed they were investing in innovative technologies when in fact the entire operation rested on false representations.
Kovar's conviction follows several other U.S. criminal cases involving investment businesses that prosecutors said used cryptocurrency claims to attract investors. According to reports, a July crypto.news report detailed the Justice Department's reported move to dismiss charges against BitClub Network founder Matthew Goettsche despite allegations that the crypto mining operation defrauded investors of $722 million. In February, prosecutors arrested Goliath Ventures founder Christopher Alexander Delgado over an alleged $328 million Ponzi scheme, with the Justice Department alleging that Goliath Ventures collected more than $300 million even though only about $1 million was placed into legitimate cryptocurrency assets. In June, federal prosecutors charged Tennessee resident Misam Abidi over an alleged $1.9 million scheme run through Star Credit Holdings, accusing him of making false statements about returns, reserves and assets under management between 2020 and 2024. These cases point to a pattern federal investigators keep encountering: crypto framing gives fraud a modern gloss, but the underlying mechanics remain as old as the Ponzi scheme itself.
