by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 29 – On December 7, 2022 DOJ announced "an indictment charging RIKESH THAPA with operating a scheme to defraud a start-up technology company (the “Victim Company”) of over $1 million worth of United States currency, cryptocurrency, and utility tokens."
On April 29, 2024 Thapa after pleading guilty came up for sentencing before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge John P. Cronan. Inner City Press was there, the only media in the courtroom. Thread:
US wants 30 months; his retained lawyer has asked in writing for a "lenient sentence."
Assistant US Attorney: We believe for deterrence, an incarceratory sentence is appropriate here. Judge: What about the expenditures, lavish ones? AUSA: There were multi thousands dollar expenditures in night clubs... travel... hotels... Not necessities. He was living in an $11,000 a month luxury apartment in Manhattan procured through a fraudulent application. It was greed.
Judge: He is a deportable alien Judge: Why supervised release, then? AUSA: He pled to structuring, not wire fraud, which will increase his likelihood of staying in the US. So we are for supervised release in case he's not deported [to Nepal]
Defense counsel: This is a really weird case Defense counsel: I don't really understand how this could have happened. He's been in other start-ups. He's an uncommonly decent man. There was an Uber driver, a drug addict, who he took in when he was 20 years old. Judge: He lied to a luxury apartment building
Judge: On whether his family was targeted by Maoist rebels in Nepal, the pre-sentencing report disagrees. Defense: Something happened. It wasn't the easiest start in life. He's started an anti-hacking school. I asked him, Where's your family? He: they're upset
[Note: the victim company is Block Party Tickets, which had a blockchain-based protocol for live event tickets. Thapa’s LinkedIn profile, now offline, listed himself as a founder and chief technology officer for the firm, now nearly defunct]
Defense lawyer: He did work for the state of Pennsylvania. In his mind this was a dispute, he was owed the money. He'll either be deported or lose the 10% good time and halfway house credit, as a non citizen. The AUSA let us plead to structuring, he might stay
Thapa: I apologize for your time, the Court's time, and obviously the victim, I apologize for my reckless behavior. When I started Block Party, I was 23. I had the smarts but now that I'm 30, there's a whole other level of responsibility
Thapa: My mentor told me, you have to look in the mirror and be comfortable with yourself. Block Party was entertainment, we went to events, it was all a blur. I'm disappointed himself.
Judge: [after taking a break] The guideline range is 30 to 37 months...
Judge: This was very serious conduct. The offense of conviction is structuring - but I must consider the actual conduct. Brazen theft of $1.3 million from a start up. Since they worked in crypto, they wanted to diversify their banking. They parked it with Thapa
Judge: In the summer of 2019, the CEO told him to return the money. He said no, he needed to discuss it with a tax attorney. But he had used the money on nightclubs and travel. He took crypto, Bitcoin and Ethereum. He deleted the CEO's email account
Judge: Here the guidelines do a rather effective job of capturing the offense conduct. $1.3 million is a large amount of money for one individual to steal... These were not lapses in judgment. This was theft. There is a need for general deterrence.
Judge: On the other hand I have considered the conditions in Nepal - he obtained lawful permanent resident status in the US, which provided him opportunity. Then he committed these crimes. He knew what he was doing.
Judge: Deportation may not be certain. I have considered letters. Mr. Thapa, I sentence you to 24 months in prison, then 3 years of supervised release. Also $5000 fine.
More on X for Subscribers here & Substack here
The case is US v. Thapa, 22-cr-654 (Cronan)
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