Ex-con hedgie Boaz Manor charged in $30M bitcoin fraud scheme

A convicted hedge-fund swindler assumed a fake name and donned a disguise to lure investors into a $30 million bitcoin fraud in New York that spanned two years, the feds alleged on Friday.

Boaz Manor — a 46-year-old entrepreneur who got a four-year prison sentence in Canada in 2010 after misappropriating more than $100 million from his hedge fund — was accused of the elaborate scheme in explosive charges Friday by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Released early from prison in 2012, Manor got a lifetime ban from the securities industry. Nevertheless, around 2015, he appeared to be laying the groundwork for a comeback — by posing as somebody else.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Manor darkened his blond hair and grew a beard. After trying on aliases like “Jay Mills” and “Jay Belzberg,” Manor appears to have settled on the name “Shaun MacDonald.”

By 2017, MacDonald had become a player on the frothy New York crypto scene,…