A man has admitted to stealing almost £200,000 in cryptocurrency from his boss. Ben Noden, 37, had been working as a roofer when his employer, Peter Round, asked him to help manage cryptocurrency trades being made online.
But a year later, Mr Round discovered that the valuable portfolio he had built up over several years had disappeared and called in the police. Noden appeared at Redditch Justice Centre where he pleaded guilty to theft by employee and committing fraud by false representation on Monday, January 13.
He admitted to stealing £198,387 as friends and family of Mr Round watched on from the public gallery. Her Honour Judge Seanin Gilmore granted conditional bail ahead of his sentencing next month.
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Mr Round said after the case that Noden worked for him as a roofer before he began slowly syphoning cash from his cryptocurrency. He said he built up the sizeable account as a retirement fund and planned to double the value up to half a million pounds with the help of expert guidance.
He asked Noden to help due to his “up-to-date knowledge of computers” and told him to invest in specific coins. But just 13 months after handing Noden the reins to his sizeable portfolio, the money had vanished.
He says Noden was transferring sums of up to £12,000 a day while continuing to take his £400 weekly wage. Now, the 68-year-old says he won’t be able to retire.
Mr Round, of Kidderminster, said: “He went in today with his auntie and pleaded guilty to all the charges. I think he wanted Christmas out.
“He was syphoning it and gambling it. If he hadn’t of stolen it, it should have been roughly £496,000. He’s wrecked it.
“I was 66 when he did this to me. I worked seven days a week in roofing for this money. I put everything in this, he did this for over 13 months.
“I employed him initially to come into roofing for me, but as I got into crypto I left him in the office to put money into crypto as he was computer savvy. He stole every bit of it from me.
“It was over 13 months, he signed my name to take all the stocks out. I was out roofing seven days a week to pay for that, and paid him, all while he was taking money out. He’s dragged this out since July, for three years this has happened.
“I’m now 68 and I can’t retire. He took daily £9k, £10k and £12k. He basically sentenced me to hard labour for the rest of my life. I had to get back to work.
“Apparently, he gambled it all on a crypto website. You try and get up at 67 years of age when you put everything in, when he takes £400 off your hand.”
Noden, from Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, will be sentenced on February 13 at Worcester Crown Court.