Man Pleads Guilty to $1.16M Crypto Gambling Fraud

Elmin Redzepagic, 25, of Wolcott, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to federal charges after authorities said he defrauded more than 10 investors of about $1.16 million between 2021 and 2025. He promised high returns on cryptocurrency investments, then told investors they needed to pay additional “gas fees” to withdraw supposed profits and invoked a purported partner known as “The Chef” to explain delays. Prosecutors said he never invested the money, instead routing it through offshore gambling platform Stake.com, where he lost the funds and made payments to some victims to keep the scheme going. Redzepagic pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, international money laundering and making false statements to federal investigators; he is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2027 and faces a maximum potential sentence of 65 years.