A federal jury in Las Vegas convicted business owner Brent C. Kovar on August 24, 2026, of operating a cryptocurrency investment scheme that collected $24 million from at least 400 investors. After a nine-day trial, the jury found him guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering. He faces a statutory maximum of 280 years in prison when he appears for sentencing on November 30 before U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey.

False Claims of AI Mining and Guaranteed Returns

From late 2017 through July 2021, Kovar owned and operated Profit Connect, a Las Vegas company he marketed as a profitable cryptocurrency enterprise. He told investors the firm used artificial intelligence software running on a supercomputer to mine digital assets and verify transactions on other networks. Promotional materials, including a website, YouTube videos and PowerPoint presentations, promised fixed annual returns of 15 percent to 30 percent along with a full money-back guarantee.

Kovar further claimed Profit Connect held hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency reserves and, in some instances, that investor funds carried FDIC insurance protection. Federal prosecutors established that none of these representations were true. The company generated no legitimate mining revenue or trading profits capable of supporting the advertised returns or the money-back pledge. It held no substantial crypto reserves.

How Investor Funds Were Used

Instead of deploying capital into mining operations or other investments, Kovar directed incoming money toward keeping Profit Connect running, purchasing gifts for employees and buying a house for himself. Remaining funds were used to make payments to earlier investors, which were presented as earnings from cryptocurrency activities. By the time the scheme ended, authorities determined at least 400 people had contributed a combined $24 million.

The operation sold investments through an affiliated entity known as Profit Connect Wealth Services. It maintained a sales office and leased warehouse space that was portrayed as a data center. Investigators from the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the FDIC Office of Inspector General traced the flow of funds and documented the absence of any meaningful crypto-mining activity.

Prior Regulatory Actions

The criminal case builds on earlier civil enforcement. In July 2021 the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Kovar, his mother Joy I. Kovar, and Profit Connect, alleging they had already raised more than $12 million from at least 277 investors. At that stage, regulators found that over 90 percent of incoming funds were paid out to other investors rather than invested. Assets were frozen.

Kovar’s history with the SEC extends further back. In 2009 the agency charged him in connection with a pump-and-dump scheme at Sky Way Global LLC, where he served as a senior vice president. That case centered on fabricated claims about broadcasting and anti-terrorism technology that did not exist. A federal court in 2010 permanently barred him from serving as an officer or director of any company registered with the SEC and from participating in penny-stock offerings. Because Profit Connect remained privately held, the bar did not prevent him from controlling the later venture.

Statements from Prosecutors and Investigators

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah described the verdict as evidence of the office’s commitment to pursuing financial fraud involving manipulated records and large sums of investor money. Acting Special Agent in Charge David Lowe of IRS Criminal Investigation’s San Francisco Field Office noted that the scheme relied on false guarantees, fabricated profits and nonexistent reserves, leaving investors with substantial losses.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Brister and James Gaeta are handling the prosecution. The original indictment, returned in February 2025, had charged Kovar with a higher number of counts that carried a theoretical maximum of 330 years; the jury’s verdict on 15 counts reduced the statutory ceiling to 280 years. The actual term of imprisonment will be determined under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors at the November hearing.

The conviction closes one chapter in a series of federal actions targeting investment operations that used cryptocurrency terminology to attract capital while recycling new investor money to earlier participants or diverting it to personal use. Sentencing remains scheduled for November 30, 2026.