Bitcoins
A California man accused of posing as a ‘Bitcoin billionaire’ to scam nearly £170,732 ($212,000) from luxury resorts and small businesses in Wyoming has made a bold plea for leniency.
Kevin Michael Segal, 30, requested that Teton County Judge Melissa Owens reduce his bail. According to the California State Daily, he claimed he needed to be released from jail to protect his family and belongings from the Los Angeles wildfires.
Bitcoins Segal’s Bail Reduction Request
However, Teton County Deputy Attorney Andrew Hardenbrook disagreed. He pointed out that if Segal truly had £1.61 ($2) billion in assets, as he claimed, a £40,267.00 ($50,000) bail shouldn’t be a problem.
Hardenbrook also emphasised that Segal has no connection to Teton County, Wyoming. Furthermore, he faces over a dozen felony charges and three misdemeanours, all of which Segal denies.
Prosecutors allege that Segal defrauded at least nine businesses and individuals during his time in Wyoming last year. They say he posed as a rich businessman looking to buy millions of dollars worth of local property.
Bitcoins How Segal Targeted Businesses
‘I believe that Mr Segal just posed to be a Bitcoin billionaire and said this to everybody just to live the high life. He just played the game,’ Detective Adam Rainey testified at a preliminary hearing earlier this month, according to Jackson Hole News & Guide.
The Teton County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Segal in March 2024 after the Rocky Mountain Yeti car dealership in Jackson reported that he had promised to wire £128392.94 ($159,427) for a new 2024 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck, but the payment never arrived.
A dealership employee stated that they contacted Segal about the missing payment. Segal then gave them a check, but it bounced. After receiving the report, Sheriff’s Sergeant Jesse Willcox searched for Segal.
Bitcoins The Trail Of Deception
Willcox learned that Segal had been staying at the Caldera House, a five-star hotel in Teton Village, but had left on March 21—six days after taking the truck. Segal reportedly ‘snuck out the back’ of the Caldera House without settling his £11975.65 ($14,870.30) bill for his room and drinks, according to an affidavit obtained by the Cowboy State Daily.
At that point, Willcox contacted a law enforcement connection at a rental property on Spring Creek Ranch, where Segal had stayed earlier that month, only to find that he was no longer there. Eventually, Rainey took over the case as Willcox’s investigation uncovered additional ‘fraudulent acts,’ according to the affidavit.
‘As I investigated the case, I discovered that Segal had committed several fraudulent activities and had falsely represented himself as a Bitcoin billionaire in order to help carry out his scheme of deception,’ Rainey wrote.
He also stated that Segal had stayed at the five-star Amangani resort with his mother and a friend, running up a £2195.16 ($2,725.76) tab that he never paid because the credit card he used was fake.
Bitcoins Victims Speak Out
At Spring Creek Ranch, three of Segal’s cards were also fake for payments of £13295.84 ($16,509.60) and £4613.63 ($5,728.80). Additionally, he left a £2460.54 ($3,055.28) bar tab unpaid at the Mangy Moose Saloon.
‘There are a lot of cards,’ Rainey testified in court. ‘I followed up on all of them. The damages were pretty significant.’ Segal also reportedly tricked freelancers, like a man he hired to get a DJI drone. They agreed that the man would buy the drone in Colorado, and Segal would pay him back, prosecutors say. However, Segal’s £2642.69 ($3,281.46) check bounced.
In another case, Ashley Watson, who owns Mountains of Groceries, a grocery delivery service in Teton County, said Segal used her service, but his credit card payments were declined.
‘I don’t think I know what I would have done differently,’ she told the News & Guide afterwards. ‘He had a credit card, and he placed an order,’ she explained. ‘Sounds like he was a pro at this.’
Bitcoins A Stolen Truck And A String of Scams
Segal even allegedly had a delivery driver take his stolen Dodge back to his Los Angeles apartment, according to records obtained by DailyMail.com. The driver and his son then drove ‘nonstop’ from Wyoming to Los Angeles and went to the airport for their return flight to Jackson—a trip Segal allegedly promised to cover.
But the men discovered that Segal hadn’t booked their flights at the airport. They had to stay overnight in a hotel, with Segal promising to resolve the situation. They bought their return tickets and sent Segal a £2497.36 ($3,101) bill, which they said covered the drive, gas, flights, hotel, and other travel costs.
On March 27, Segal sent the man a screenshot showing a wire transfer, but the money never arrived. The next day, a warrant was issued for his arrest, with prosecutors claiming he stole a total of £170613.19 ($211,852.37).
Bitcoins How Segal Was Caught
Segal was later tracked to his home in Redondo Beach, California, using the GPS in his stolen truck, which local police recovered when they arrested him. The Rocky Mountain Yeti dealership later informed investigators that they suffered a £21824.71 ($27,100) loss on the truck, factoring in its reduced value and the expense of retrieving it.
‘He was good,’ Darren Allred, the head of sales at the dealership, admitted. Segal now faces up to 14 and a half years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. His pretrial hearing is scheduled for April.
According to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com, Segal was previously involved in a civil lawsuit where he allegedly claimed to have over £273.82 ($340) million in stocks and a thriving business to secure a Los Angeles property lease.
That lawsuit also accused him of cancelling wire transfers and using fake checks to pay the family. That case was settled in September 2023.
Arden Menjivar Read More