HARTFORD – A former Westport executive of a New York cryptocurrency firm was sentenced to four years Tuesday for stealing $4.6 million from his company, according to Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut.
In addition to the four years, Dylan Meissner, 31, of Westport, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to two years of supervised release.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Meissner was employed at a cryptocurrency research firm as vice president of finance with access to the firm’s cryptocurrency wallets and bank accounts. While the firm was not named in the Department of Justice press release, Meissner’s Linked In profile shows that he was vice president of finance for Delphi Digital in the New York City metropolitan area from October 2021-November 2022. It mentions that he was hired as a senior associate for Arrow Search Partners in September 2023-February 2024. He graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with a masters in accounting and was a CPA.
In approximately January 2022, Meissner obtained a 50 Ethereum (approximately $170,000) loan from his employer, stating that he would use the funds in an attempt to avoid a substantial loss in certain cryptocurrency investments he had made using his personal funds. Then, from February 2022 until his termination in November 2022, in continued attempts to counteract significant personal trading losses, Meissner fraudulently diverted his employer’s funds to his own use and covered up his conduct through false entries in the firm’s books and records.
Through this scheme, Meissner stole approximately $4,461,828 from his employer.
Judge Shea ordered Meissner to pay restitution of $4,633,424.99, which includes the money he stole from his employer and the loan he failed to repay.
Meissner, who is released on a $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison on Feb. 21, 2025.
