Cryptocurrency Firm Executive Admits Stealing $4.46 Million from Employer

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that DYLAN MEISSNER, 31, of Westport, pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to a fraud offense stemming from his theft of more than $4 million from his former employer.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Meissner was employed at a cryptocurrency research firm as Vice President of Finance with access to the firm's cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts. In approximately January 2022, Meissner obtained a 50 Ethereum (approximately $170,000) loan from his employer, stating that he would use the funds in an attempt to avoid a substantial loss in certain cryptocurrency investments he had made using his personal funds. Then, from February 2022 until his termination in November 2022, in continued attempts to counteract significant personal trading losses, Meissner fraudulently diverted his employer's funds to his own use and covered up his conduct through false entries in the firm's books and records. Through this scheme, Meissner stole approximately $4,461,828 from his employer.

Meissner pleaded guilty to wire fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea on October 11.

Meissner faces a restitution order of $4,633,424.99, which includes the money he stole from his employer and the loan he failed to repay.

Meissner is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick.