Three plead guilty in virtual currency wire fraud case

CONCORD - Three Granite Staters pleaded guilty last week in federal court to wire fraud, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced today.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately 2016 and 2021, Andrew Spinella, 36, and Renee Spinella, 24, both of Derry, and Nobody, a/k/a Richard Paul, 53, of Keene, opened and operated accounts at financial institutions as personal accounts in their names or as business accounts in the names of churches in order to allow their co-defendant, Ian Freeman, to use them to sell virtual currency.

Andrew Spinella pleaded guilty on April 12. He admitted to opening personal accounts in his name for Freeman to use to sell virtual currency. He signed blank checks and gave Freeman the login information for those accounts.

Renee Spinella pleaded guilty on April 14. She admitted that she opened a business account in the name of Crypto Church of NH, which she told the bank was an international ministry. She opened the account in person at a bank branch in New Hampshire where she was accompanied by Freeman. Although the account was purported to be for the receipt of church donations, the account was used almost exclusively to support Freeman's virtual currency exchange business.

Nobody pleaded guilty on April 15. He admitted that he opened accounts in his name and in the name of the Church of the Invisible Hand. At the time he opened the accounts or provided Freeman with access to the accounts, he knew they would not be used as personal accounts or for a church, but instead would be used by Freeman to trade virtual currency.

Each of the defendants was aware that banks would close these accounts if the banks knew the accounts were used to operate an unlicensed virtual currency business.

Andrew and Renee Spinella are scheduled to be sentenced on July 26. Nobody is scheduled to be sentenced on July 28.

A total of six individuals have been charged in this case. Freeman and two other co-defendants are scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 1.

"By using fraudulent means to mislead banks about the true purpose of these bank accounts, the defendants assisted in the operation of an unlawful virtual currency business," said U.S. Attorney John J. Farley. "To protect the integrity of our financial system, we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute individuals who participate in fraud schemes involving virtual currency."

The case was investigated by the FBI, the IRS and the United States Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Georgiana L. MacDonald, John Kennedy, and Seth R. Aframe.