Raymond Trapani
Co-founder of Centra Tech, whom the SEC called a 'mastermind' of its fraudulent 2017 ICO. He pleaded guilty but, citing 'extraordinary' cooperation, was sentenced in 2022 to time served (no prison) and ~$2.9M restitution.
Also known as: Ray Trapani
Bio
Raymond "Ray" Trapani co-founded Centra Tech and, per the SEC, was a "mastermind" of its fraudulent ICO — fabricating partnerships and executive bios and helping manipulate CTR token trading. Text messages among the founders revealed their fraudulent intent. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Trapani pleaded guilty alongside his co-founders, but the judge cited his "extraordinary" cooperation with the criminal investigation and, in April 2022, sentenced him to time served (no additional prison) and ordered ~$2.9 million in restitution; he is barred from serving as a public-company officer. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
HEX / PulseChain (Richard Heart)ProjectsCrypto projects (HEX, PulseChain, PulseX) created by Richard Heart (Richard Schueler). In July 2023 the U.S. SEC sued him for offering unregistered securities that raised $1B+ and for allegedly misappropriating ~$12M for luxury goods (including a 555-carat diamond). A court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of U.S. jurisdiction; there was no finding of wrongdoing and Heart denies the allegations.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
