SAN DIEGO (AP) - A San Diego man has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for selling plots of land he didn’t own to unsuspecting investors he convinced would eventually live in “Bitcointopia,” a city of the future in the Nevada desert.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Wednesday that Morgan Rockcoons, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, lured investors with a slick website advertising his city-from-scratch as a Tomorrowland built on bitcoins.
Bitcointopia offered 500- to-1,000-acre plots at a half-bitcoin per acre. At least 10 people purchased land but never got their deeds.
Rockcoons was arrested last year and eventually pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and wire fraud.
Prosecutors say the 31-year-old Rockcoons did own some land in Nevada - two non-contiguous parcels totaling about five acres.
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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com
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