He Won $1.16M From Investors, Then Lost It All at Stake.com

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-10-21

A 25-year-old from Wolcott, Connecticut, is facing serious prison time after admitting he took money people trusted him with and gambled most of it away on an offshore crypto casino. Elmin Redzepagic pleaded guilty on October 19 to federal fraud and money laundering charges before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport. The total losses? More than $1.16 million. Here's the part that stings. He wasn't some shadowy figure running a boiler room. He was a former Southern Connecticut State University basketball player, someone people likely knew and trusted in his community. ### How the Scheme Worked Between May 2021 and March 2025, Redzepagic convinced more than 10 victims to hand over money for cryptocurrency investments. Instead of investing it, he funneled the funds to Stake.com, a popular offshore gambling platform that accepts crypto deposits. A few things stand out about this case: - The scheme ran for nearly four years before it unraveled - More than 10 victims were affected, meaning the average loss per person was well over $100,000 - The money moved through crypto channels, which made it harder to trace at first - Redzepagic was only 21 when the scheme began That last point is worth sitting with. This wasn't a seasoned con artist with decades of practice. It was someone barely out of college who found himself in a position of trust and made a catastrophic series of choices. ### Why Offshore Crypto Casinos Keep Showing Up in Fraud Cases Stake.com and similar platforms operate outside U.S. gambling regulations. That's not automatically illegal for players in every jurisdiction, but it creates real problems when stolen money flows through them. Crypto deposits are fast, and they don't carry the same paper trail as a wire transfer to a regulated U.S. casino. For someone trying to hide where money went, that's appealing. For investigators, it means more legwork, but as this case shows, it doesn't mean they can't follow the money. > "Gambling addiction can turn anyone into someone they don't recognize. But when it involves other people's money, the consequences move from personal to criminal in a hurry." That's the uncomfortable truth at the center of this story. Problem gambling and financial fraud often travel together, and the crypto world makes that combination easier to hide, at least for a while. ### What Happens Next Redzepagic now awaits sentencing. Federal fraud and money laundering convictions can carry substantial prison terms, and restitution to victims is typically part of the equation. Whether he can ever repay more than $1.16 million is another question entirely. For the victims, the damage goes beyond money. Trust is hard to rebuild once it's been spent at a blackjack table on the other side of the world. ### The Bigger Lesson If someone offers you a crypto investment opportunity, especially someone you know personally, slow down. Ask hard questions. Verify where the money is actually going. Legitimate investment managers don't need to route your funds through a gambling site, and the warning signs are usually there if you look closely enough. The case also serves as a reminder that offshore gambling platforms carry risks that go well beyond losing a bet. When the money isn't yours, the stakes get much higher.