SafeMoon CEO Convicted in $200 Million Crypto Fraud Scheme

Former SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony has been convicted on all charges related to a $200 million crypto fraud scheme. The verdict was delivered by a federal jury following a 12-day trial in Brooklyn on May 21. Karony was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Prosecutors alleged that Karony deceived investors by falsely claiming that SafeMoon’s liquidity pools were locked, while he secretly accessed and drained the funds to purchase luxury homes and vehicles.

Karony now faces up to 45 years in prison. The jury also ordered the forfeiture of approximately $2 million in real estate assets linked to the scheme. His sentencing is scheduled for later this year. Meanwhile, co-conspirator Thomas Smith has already pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, while Kyle Nagy, the third alleged participant, remains at large. The SafeMoon project has since been taken over by the community, which has rebranded it as a memecoin.

Karony orchestrated a deceptive scheme by launching SafeMoon in March 2021, marketing it as a secure decentralized finance (DeFi) token with a self-sustaining liquidity mechanism. He claimed that a 10% tax on every transaction would reward holders and reinforce market liquidity by funding locked pools. In reality, Karony retained full access to those liquidity pools and funneled millions of dollars into personal accounts. He used the stolen funds to purchase a $2.2 million home in Utah, properties in Kansas, two Audi R8s, a Tesla, and customized trucks.

According to US Attorney Joseph Nocella, “Karony didn’t build a safe financial product — he built a pipeline for theft. He looted investor funds and used them to fill his garages and bankroll his lifestyle.” Agents from the IRS-Criminal Investigation, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations traced the misappropriated assets through a web of pseudonymous wallets and centralized exchange accounts. The IRS-CI and its cyber and J5 task forces followed the digital trail, uncovering how Karony laundered the funds. They collaborated with global enforcement partners from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK to crack the cross-border operation.

IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis, Jr. stated, “Karony lined his driveways with sports cars while deceiving millions. We tracked his crypto movements and exposed the scheme for what it was — outright theft.” The FBI and HSI also confirmed that Karony masked his personal trades of SafeMoon during peak prices, generating additional illegal profits while assuring the public that insiders weren’t manipulating the token.