An online cryptocurrency influencer known as “Bitcoin Rodney,” who is charged with running a multi-billion-dollar scam, was ordered Tuesday detained pending trial.
Rodney Burton was arrested at the Miami International Airport in January and charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in January.
U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett in U.S. District Court in Baltimore denied Burton’s request for bail before the case goes to trial, saying Burton “poses an extreme flight risk.”
No trial date has been set.
Last month, Burton asked the court to release him in high intensity supervision.
In a detention memo, the government alleged that Burton is a part of a “Ponzi Scheme.”
The judge cited a recorded phone call Burton had as evidence in the case. In the call, Burton spoke about his intentions to move to Dubai and continue participating in cryptocurrency businesses regardless of if individuals may be “hurt” by the scheme, according to court records. He also mentioned he was being investigated by “feds.”
The evidence against Burton is strong, according to the judge. In addition to the phone call, the indictment outlined “hundreds of illegal money transactions” performed by Burton.
“The phone call noted above is even greater evidence against Burton,” Bennett wrote in a five-page ruling.
The judge cites the nature and circumstances of Burton’s offense as serious as he is alleged to have participated in an almost $2 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
Additionally, the judge said, Burton’s financial resources and prior convictions for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, support his detainment.
