The scam that made millions — a look into the fraudulent company Centra Tech
I recently watched the Netflix documentary Bitconned, which explores the rise and fall of Centra Tech through interviews with its co-founder, Ray Trapani.
In this story, I’ll provide an overview of Centra Tech — how it started, how the scam was uncovered, and what happened to the people behind it.
The world of cryptocurrency investing has seen its fair share of scams and frauds over the years, with people simply looking to make a quick buck off of unsuspecting investors.
One of the biggest scams to have emerged in recent times is the now infamous company Centra Tech, which claimed to have revolutionized cryptocurrency payments through debit cards.
The mastermind behind it all
At the center of the Centra Tech scam was Ray Trapani, a young man from Atlantic Beach, NY, who freely admits he was attracted to criminal activities from a young age.
As a teen, Trapani sold prescription pills illegally and then started a luxury rental car business using borrowed money from his grandfather. When that business failed, his friend Sohrab “Sorbee” Sharma introduced him to the idea of launching a company in the booming cryptocurrency industry.
Together with Sharma and another friend, Trapani founded Centra Tech in 2017. The company claimed it had developed a crypto debit card and cryptocurrency wallet that allowed real-time conversion of crypto balances into fiat currency.
This meant crypto holders could easily spend their coins anywhere credit cards were accepted.
A slick web of lies
To make Centra Tech look legitimate, Trapani and his partners created an elaborate web of lies.
They set up a professional-looking website and stocked it with fake executive profiles of purported Harvard grads and Wells Fargo executives.
They even used Photoshop to create a fake CEO named “Michael Edwards” using a stock image of an older man.
Trapani also paid celebrities like Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled to endorse Centra, which brought mainstream attention. An early positive article about Centra Tech also helped attract investors.
In reality, the company had no official partnerships with Visa, Mastercard, or any major banks. Its crypto debit card and wallet app were non-functional.
The celebrity endorsements and false information were simply a front to draw in gullible investors.
Exposed as a total sham
It didn’t take long for cracks to show in Centra Tech’s polished veneer. A New York Times journalist named Nathaniel Popper grew suspicious of the company’s claims and started investigating. He discovered the fake profiles and non-existent executive team. Visa and others denied any partnership with Centra.
At the same time, an investor named Jacob Rensel was conducting his private investigation and gathering intel about Trapani and his co-founders. Popper’s NYT expose and Rensel’s findings provided enough evidence for the SEC to shut down Centra Tech in early 2018. The SEC deemed it an outright scam operation, charging the founders with fraud and securities violations.
Dodging prison time
Despite masterminding the entire scheme, Trapani managed to avoid any serious jail time by becoming a government informant.
He took a plea deal and provided evidence against his Centra partners, even admitting to stealing funds from a client’s account.
Trapani was sentenced to time served, while his co-founders got one year and eight years in prison, respectively.
After avoiding prison, Trapani had the audacity to buy a million-dollar home in Miami — likely using profits he siphoned from Centra before its demise.
Meanwhile, none of the investors who lost money to Centra Tech ever saw a dime in restitution. For Trapani, defrauding people out of millions led to no meaningful consequences beyond bad press.
The Centra Tech scandal shows there are still dangerous gaps regarding cryptocurrency oversight and consumer protection.
While scams are nothing new in the investing world, the anonymous, decentralized nature of crypto networks enables them to flourish on a massive scale.
Let’s hope authorities can catch up to safeguard investors better and bring the criminals to justice.
