A federal jury in Las Vegas has found Brent Kovar, the owner of Profit Connect, guilty of running a large-scale cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Kovar fraudulently obtained approximately $24 million from at least 400 investors.
From late 2017 through July 2021, Kovar presented Profit Connect as a high-tech company that supposedly used artificial intelligence and supercomputers to mine cryptocurrencies and verify transactions. Potential investors were promised fixed annual returns of between 15% and 30%, while Kovar claimed that their investments were 100% guaranteed. To make the operation appear more credible, he also claimed that the company held “hundreds of millions of dollars” in cryptocurrency reserves and was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
However, evidence presented at trial showed that the impressive technological story was largely an illusion. Profit Connect was not profitable, had no such cryptocurrency reserves and was unable to generate the promised returns. Kovar used investors’ money to keep the company operating, purchase gifts for employees and buy a house for himself. He also used funds from new investors to pay earlier investors while presenting those payments as profits — the classic Ponzi scheme model.
The trial lasted nine days. Kovar was found guilty on 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering. In theory, the combined maximum penalties could amount to an extraordinary 280 years in prison.
The final sentence is scheduled to be handed down by a federal district court judge on November 30, 2026. Of course, Kovar will not literally serve 280 years. That figure represents the maximum possible penalties across the individual charges, while the actual sentence will be determined by the court.
“Victims in this case believed they were participating in a revolutionary technological breakthrough, but it was merely an illusion created by Mr. Kovar’s lies and deception,” said Christopher S. Delzotto, the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge in Las Vegas.
The Profit Connect case once again demonstrates how easily terms such as “artificial intelligence,” promises of high guaranteed returns and claims about cryptocurrency reserves can be used to create the appearance of a legitimate technology business. And if someone offers you 30% annual returns, a 100% guarantee of your money back and virtually no risk, perhaps the first thing worth checking is not the company’s artificial intelligence, but the natural intelligence of its investors.
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