Fresno man who used Bitwise to lure investors into $45M loan scheme pleads guilty.
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- David Hardcastle pleaded guilty in court to defrauding investors of about $45 million
- Hardcastle admitted altering Bitwise loan documents and forging signatures
- Hardcastle is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 14, 2026.
A Fresno businessman accused of bilking investors in two separate schemes pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to defrauding investors of about $45 million.
David Hardcastle, 62, admitted to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving an approximately $20 million, high-interest, hard money loan to the failed Bitwise Industries.
Then from 2022 to 2023, Hardcastle and his business partner Andrew Adler, 31, of Greenwich, Conn., recruited other investors to participate, but in doing so, they altered the original loan documents to make it appear that Bitwise was obligated to pay significantly less interest on the loans than was true.
They also forged the signature of Bitwise’s Co-CEO, Jake Soberal, on the altered documents, making the loans appear less risky and therefore more appealing to the investors.
Adler has already struck a deal with the government by pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced on June 2, 2025, to three years and five months and ordered to pay $9.3 million in restitution jointly and severally with the other Bitwise defendants. He must also forfeit $1 million.
Hardcastle is also being prosecuted for an alleged Ponzi scheme in Florida involving questionable real estate deals.
According to court documents, Hardcastle was a general partner and chief executive officer at Voyager Pacific Capital Management, a real estate investment firm based in Florida with operations throughout the country that managed assets worth tens of millions of dollars.
Between June 2020 and January 2025, Hardcastle and others falsely represented to investors that their money would be used to acquire homes, land, and tax liens, among other assets.
Instead, Hardcastle and others used the money to pay promised returns to other participants, personal investments, and other improper purchases. They provided fake financial information to the participants that falsely said that the Fund was performing well when, in fact, it was not, according to court documents.
Hardcastle faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on Sept. 14.
Soberal and Bitwise co-founder Irma Olguin pleaded guilty on July 17, 2024 to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection to $115 million scheme to defraud investors and lenders.
They are currently serving their sentences in federal prisons. Soberal was sentenced to 11 years and Olguin received a nine-year sentence.
