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Noman Saleem, a 39-year-old New York resident, will spend 15 months in federal prison for running a wire fraud scheme that bilked crypto investors out of nearly $1.8M. The sentence, handed down on June 23 by US District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow, also includes three years of supervised release.
Saleem ran the operation from roughly December 2020 through March 2021. He exploited the environment by creating fake personas on Telegram that mimicked well-known crypto influencers. Victims were told they could earn returns by depositing digital assets into wallets that Saleem controlled. No actual investments were made. No staking occurred. The promised returns never materialized.
A civil forfeiture case filed in May 2024 identified a wallet containing approximately 300 ETH linked to Saleem. Law enforcement seized substantial portions of the stolen funds, though the full recovery picture remains part of the ongoing forfeiture and restitution provisions included in his plea deal.
Saleem pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges on September 30, 2025. He faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The 15-month sentence he received falls well below federal sentencing guidelines, suggesting mitigating factors weighed in his favor during proceedings.
The prosecution was handled by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, with at least one victim identified from that state.
For retail investors, the takeaway is uncomfortably evergreen. Any unsolicited investment opportunity arriving via Telegram, Discord, or social media DMs should be treated with extreme skepticism, regardless of who appears to be sending it. Legitimate influencers and project teams do not solicit deposits through private messages. If someone claiming to be a well-known crypto figure is asking you to send tokens to a wallet address, that is almost certainly a scam.
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