Canadian teen admits to $13M crypto theft, spent on luxury cars and jets

A Canadian teen admitted to stealing more than $13 million in cryptocurrency through social engineering schemes to fund an “exotic lifestyle” in Miami and Los Angeles, US prosecutors say. Charged in May when he was 19, Trenton Richard Johnston, now 20, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, avoiding further charges that could have carried a maximum sentence of up to 40 years.

Court documents state Johnston and co-conspirators impersonated employees at Google, Trezor and other crypto firms to gain access to victims’ accounts. The campaign began around January 2024; in February one victim lost about $41,000 in Ether after being told his Google email and Coinbase accounts were compromised, and less than a month later another victim in California was tricked into surrendering roughly $13 million in Bitcoin.

Prosecutors say about $1.2 million of the stolen funds paid for luxury spending across Miami and Los Angeles over two months.

Canada, Miami, Los Angeles

trenton johnston, crypto theft, social engineering, money laundering, miami, los angeles, google, trezor, coinbase, bitcoin