LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The owner of a Las Vegas-based business was convicted Monday of fraudulently taking $24 million from at least 400 investors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
Brent C. Kovar, owner of Profit Connect, lied to investors from late 2017 to July 2021 that the company was profitable and returning a fixed rate of 15-30% to investors, according to prosecutors. The company offered a 100% money-back guarantee. The company claimed it used artificial intelligence software on a supercomputer to mine cryptocurrency and verify other cryptocurrency transactions.
Kovar also falsely represented that Profit Connect was backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency reserves, according to a news release.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Las Vegas man accused of running $24M crypto Ponzi scheme
“Kovar knew his company was not profitable, had no reserves, did not and could not pay the fixed rates of return to investors, and had no legitimate means for the money-back guarantee. He used investor money to operate Profit Connect, to buy gifts for employees, to buy a house for himself, and to repay investors as if those repayments came from mining cryptocurrency and verifying cryptocurrency transactions,” according to the news release…