Gordon Brad Beckstead, a Nevada man and former certified public accountant, pleaded guilty to helping the architects of the BitClub Ponzi scheme with money laundering and false tax returns, according to the latest announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice. BitClub, a $722 million fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that ran from April 2014 to December 2019, saw three BitClub leaders arrested and charged with defrauding and selling unregistered securities.
Beckstead, who is also an investor in BitClub, admitted to taking control of bank accounts associated with the scheme and its creator and operator, Matthew Brent Goettsche, in order to hide Goettsche’s ties to the scam and evade tax filing requirements.
Eckstead also admitted to helping at least two outside tax preparers create bogus tax returns for Goettsche in 2017 and 2018 that did not report Goettsche’s gross income of more than $60 million through BitClub, a scam that generated $20 million U.S. federal income tax underpayment. Beckstead faces up to 23 years in prison and a fine, with a final sentencing set for August 9, 2022.
