A court in the Eastern District of New York sentenced former SafeMoon CEO Braden John Caroni to eight years in prison.
In addition to his prison term, the 29-year-old founder is required to pay $7.5 million and surrender two residential properties to the authorities.
In May 2025, a jury found Caroni guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and money laundering. According to the FBI, he embezzled over $9 million of user funds, which he spent on luxury items.
SafeMoon's tokenomics included a 10% fee on each transaction. Half of this amount was supposed to be locked in a liquidity pool to support the ecosystem, but Caroni and his accomplices diverted these assets for personal use.
With the investors' money, the executive purchased a mansion in Utah for $2.2 million, along with an Audi R8, a Tesla, and a custom Ford F-550 pickup truck.
In 2023, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also charged SafeMoon creator Kyle Nagy, who remains at large.
In February 2025, the project's Chief Technology Officer Thomas Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.