Convicted bitcoin fraudster Ian Freeman must pay $3.5 million in restitution to 29 victims and forfeit other assets that were seized during the investigation, U.S Attorney Jane Young announced.

Freeman, 43, of Keene was convicted in 2022 by a federal jury of using bitcoin to launder money collected by romance scams and other fraudulent operations, many of them overseas. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison, 2 years of supervised release and a fine of $40,000.

The restitution and the forfeiture of assets were ordered this month by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante. 

“It is rare for victims of romance scams and other international fraud schemes to have their money returned to them because of the anonymity that businesses, like Ian Freeman’s, offer fraudsters,” Young said in a prepared statement.

Freeman was a prominent part of the libertarian movement in New Hampshire known as the Free State Project, before he was arrested in 2021. 

Officials say Freeman laundered more than $10 million from people operating romance scams and other internet frauds by exchanging U.S. dollars for bitcoin. “Freeman created a business that catered to fraudsters,” the statement said, and allegedly pocketed more than a million dollars through fees.

Four other people who were arrested with Freeman in 2021 have been convicted. Three pleaded guilty to wire fraud for opening accounts at financial institutions in the names of churches and received light sentences; a fourth pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. 

Freeman and co-conspirators opened accounts at financial institutions in the names of various churches including the Shire Free Church, the Church of the Invisible Hand, the Crypto Church of New Hampshire, and the NH Peace Church. Freeman instructed bitcoin customers to lie to the financial institutions and describe their deposits as church donations. From 2016 to 2019, he paid no taxes, and concealed his income from the Internal Revenue Service.