In addition to the prison term, Karony was ordered to forfeit approximately $7.5 million and two residential properties. The court will determine the final amount of victim restitution at a later date.
Among the purchases cited in court were a $2.2 million mansion in Utah, high-end sports cars, including an Audi R8 and a Tesla and several custom trucks.
“Karony lied to investors from all walks of life—including military veterans and hardworking Americans—and defrauded thousands of victims in order to buy mansions, sports cars, and custom trucks,” stated United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr.
Fabricated Liquidity and Insider TradingHowever, the “locked” status was a fabrication. Karony and his co-conspirators retained access to these pools, using complex transaction routing and un-hosted wallets to mask the theft of millions. While publicly denying they traded the token, the defendants frequently sold Safemoon at its peak for personal profit. One of the co-conspirators, Thomas Smith, pleaded guilty to charges brought against him back in February 2025.
According to a United States Attorney’s Office press release, the investigation involved a multi-agency effort, including the FBI, IRS-CI, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
“The expertise of IRS-CI special agents in tracing financial transactions outmatched Karony’s intricate schemes,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis, Jr. “His game of hide-and-seek failed, and now he must face justice.”
FAQ Who is Braden John Karony? Karony is the former CEO of Safemoon, convicted of defrauding investors in the DeFi token. What sentence did he receive? A U.S. court handed him 100 months in federal prison plus forfeiture of $7.5M and two homes. How did he defraud investors? Karony diverted over $9M from Safemoon’s liquidity pools to fund mansions, cars, and luxury spending. What was Safemoon’s impact? At its 2021 peak, Safemoon hit an $8B market cap before collapsing amid fraud revelations.
