Judge Richard M. Berman of the New York Southern District Court has adjourned the sentencing to January 24, 2019.


Jon Montroll, operator of purported Bitcoin platform BitFunder, has obtained the Court’s approval of his request to have his sentencing postponed again.

The latest document filings with the New York Southern District Court show Judge Richard M. Berman has granted the defendant’s request. This means that sentencing is adjourned to January 24, 2019.

Montroll has asked for additional time to generate funds that are set to allow him to make a substantial payment towards his agreed-upon restitution obligation prior to sentencing. The defense counsel has explained that Montroll owns and operates two nursing homes in north Texas and expects to receive in December and January reimbursement for services rendered that will allow him to satisfy part of his restitution in advance of sentencing.

Montroll, a/k/a “Ukyo,” operated two online bitcoin services: WeExchange Australia, Pty. Ltd. (WeExchange) and BitFunder.com (BitFunder). WeExchange functioned as a bitcoin depository and currency exchange service. BitFunder facilitated the purchase and trading of virtual shares of business entities that listed their virtual shares on the BitFunder platform.

Between the launch of Bitfunder, in or about December 2012, and at least in or about July 2013, Montroll converted a portion of WeExchange users’ bitcoins to his personal use without the users’ knowledge or consent. He exchanged bitcoins taken from WeExchange into US dollars, then spent those funds on personal expenses, such as travel.

In addition, since July 18, 2013, Montroll has promoted a security referred to as “Ukyo.Loan.” He encouraged investors to “think of [Ukyo.Loan] as a sort of round-about investment” in BitFunder and WeExchange and, at the same time, described Ukyo.Loan as “a personal loan” and “for private investment purposes.”

During the summer of 2013, one or more individuals (the so-called “Hackers”) exploited a weakness in the BitFunder programming code to cause BitFunder to credit the Hackers with profits they did not, in fact, earn. As a result, the Hackers were able to wrongfully withdraw from WeExchange approximately 6,000 bitcoins, with the majority of those coins being wrongfully withdrawn between July 28, 2013, and July 31, 2013. Due to this “exploit”, BitFunder and WeExchange lacked the bitcoins necessary to cover what Montroll owed to users.

Montroll did not disclose what happened to users of BitFunder and WeExchange, or investors in Ukyo.Loan. Instead, he continued to promote and sell Ukyo.Loan to customers and, on at least one occasion, falsely represented to customers that BitFunder was commercially successful. As a result of his omissions and misrepresentations, the defendant raised approximately 978 bitcoins through Ukyo.Loan after his discovery of the Hackers’ actions.

In July this year, Montroll pleaded guilty to securities fraud and obstruction of justice.

The case is captioned USA v. Montroll (1:18-cr-00520).

“My dad likes to do magic for us and other kids. This is the closest way I imagine my dad to lie” – says the son of Jon Montroll, accused of Bitcoin fraud.

All stories, including stories about fraud, have at least two sides. The FinanceFeeds team has been keeping an eye on cryptocurrency fraud cases and has been trying to provide as much detail as possible on some of the major enforcement actions in this respect. Nevertheless, FinanceFeeds’ managing editor has to admit that now and then, it is worth reminding ourselves that all those fraudsters and scammers are human beings too. This has been shown by the sentencing submission filed earlier this week by Jon Montroll, accused of Bitcoin fraud.

The defendant pleaded guilty to securities fraud and obstruction of justice in July this year. As the Court will soon decide on his penalty (he faces a substantial prison term), the defense seeks that the Court sentence Montroll to a period of probation together with conditions of home detention and community service to be determined by the Court.

The sentencing submission includes details about the legal grounds for the defense pushing for such a penalty. The document also includes dozens of letters from Montroll’s friends and community members speaking in his favor.

Montroll is a father to four children, ages to 8 through 12. Although Montroll did not ask for his children to write any letters, one of his sons did so. Below is an excerpt of this letter (the rest contains personal information which FinanceFeeds’ managing editor believes does not need to be disclosed).

“Dear Judge,

I heard my dad asking friends for letters that describe him. I wanted to write a letter too.

Dad told me he made the biggest mistake of his life years ago and now he has to be punished for it and said that we should learn from his mistakes and to not make them and to sure to always be honest. My dad likes to do magic for us and other kids. This is the closest way I imagine my dad to lie. He always shows us how tricks work so I am not sure that counts.

Dad is a kind forgiving father is always very cheerful and fun to be around. He plays games with us. He has taught valuable life lessons like don’t do drugs and don’t smoke. He shows us old and new moves and we always have the best Birthday and Christmas is incredible when things are sad…”

Back to adult reality, let’s note that the counts to which Montroll pleaded guilty and for which he has accepted responsibility are both Class C felonies. The rules provide for maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. However, the defense notes that a probationary sentence of between one and five years is available.