Over 40 investors defrauded in $900K crypto scam run by ex-rugby player

The U.S. Department of Justice has sentenced a former rugby player to 30 months in prison for defrauding investors out of $900,000 in a crypto mining Ponzi scheme.

Shane Donovan Moore, a 37-year-old semi-professional rugby player from Seattle, operated a fraudulent company called Quantum Donovan LLC between January 2021 and October 2022, a July 17 DOJ statement alleged. 

Moore used his ties within the rugby community to build trust and recruit victims across several states, including Washington, Utah, Oregon, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

According to federal prosecutors, Moore told investors their money would be used to purchase and operate cryptocurrency mining equipment. He promised daily returns of 1% and claimed the operation would generate consistent profits through the work of mining rigs.

In reality, Moore never purchased any mining equipment. Instead, he diverted investor funds into personal bank accounts to finance a luxury lifestyle. Authorities said he used the money to pay for expensive apartments, electronics, designer clothing, luggage, and travel. 

As with most Ponzi schemes, Moore used a portion of the funds to purchase cryptocurrency and issue small payouts to early investors to maintain his facade and keep his operations running long enough to lure new victims.

Over 40 individuals were defrauded through the scheme. Many of them were friends, teammates, and acquaintances who trusted Moore based on his personal reputation in the rugby community. Total losses to victims exceeded $387,000, according to court filings.

For his crimes, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin has ordered Moore to serve 30 months in federal prison and pay restitution, though the exact repayment details were not disclosed.

While Moore’s scheme cost victims nearly $900,000, others have run similar cons on a much larger scale.

Just last month, the DOJ handed a 97-month sentence to Dwayne Golden, the operator of a separate $40 million Ponzi scheme disguised as a crypto investment platform. 

Golden and his co-conspirators operated fake platforms, including EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin, between 2017 and 2018. They promised guaranteed returns from overseas crypto trading, but instead used the deposits to pay existing investors and continue enriching themselves.

Authorities said Golden later attempted to obstruct federal investigations by submitting false information and destroying evidence, and he was ordered to forfeit $2.46 million, with additional restitution pending.

With cryptocurrencies becoming mainstream and increasingly lucrative, they have also become a prime target for fraud. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, more than 50% of all reported crypto losses in 2024 were attributed to investment scams.