Eugene William Austin, Jr., also known as Hugh Austin, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison following his conviction on multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and interstate transportation of stolen property. His son, Brandon Austin, previously received a four-year prison sentence for his participation in the fraudulent activities. Both sentences were handed down by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel.
According to U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York, Austin led a scheme to defraud over two dozen victims, which included entrepreneurs and investors, out of more than $12 million. Austin's fraudulent activities involved offering to broker cryptocurrency sales, promising high returns on short-term cryptocurrency investments, and securing supposed investors for startups. Austin also solicited personal loans, falsely promising interest payments. The funds obtained were spent on personal expenses such as luxury hotels and travel.
In his statement, Clayton said, "For years, Hugh Austin was the leader of a fraud and money laundering scheme that stole more than $12 million from more than two dozen victims. Austin involved his own son in his crimes, working with him to rip off victims and spending investor money on personal expenses, like luxury hotels. Thanks to the work of the career prosecutors of this Office and our law enforcement partners, Austin will now be held accountable for the harm he caused to individual investors and others."
Austin, 62, of Port Jefferson, New York, will additionally serve three years of supervised release. He has been ordered to forfeit $6,062,564 and to pay restitution totaling $12,662,564.
The investigation was praised by U.S. Attorney Clayton for the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Olga I. Zverovich, Matthew Weinberg, and Andrew K. Chan, with support from Paralegal Specialists Chanel-Ashley Foster, Frank Mastroianni, and Christine Woods.
