A cryptocurrency hedge-fund manager who lied about returns on his $90m fund and siphoned money from its accounts to cover a lavish lifestyle was sentenced to 7½ years in prison on 15 September.

Stefan Qin, 24 years old, pleaded guilty in February to one count of securities fraud after prosecutors said he ran the fund, Virgil Sigma Fund LP, like a Ponzi scheme for three years until its implosion in late 2020. The US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York said many of the more than 100 investors in the fund were scammed.