Benjamin Paul Wiener
Summary
Benjamin Paul Wiener is a 43-year-old Sioux Falls, South Dakota resident and founder of the Benaiah group of investment entities who was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2026 on 29 counts including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft, in connection with an alleged Ponzi-style scheme that solicited roughly $20-25 million from investors in cash and cryptocurrency. Wiener pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on July 10, 2026, and is scheduled for trial on September 15, 2026; the case is a pending criminal matter and Wiener is presumed innocent unless and until convicted. A separate, earlier-filed civil lawsuit and court-ordered asset freeze/receivership against Wiener's Benaiah entities alleges similar conduct and predates the criminal indictment.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigations- + 2 more
Timeline(12 events)
2018-01-01
Wiener's Benaiah-affiliated entities allegedly began raising investor funds for cryptocurrency-focused investment vehicles (approximate start date, per indictment reporting).
The Block2021-12-01
The Timothy A. Kinnetz Revocable Trust allegedly invested $4 million with Benaiah for cryptocurrency trading (late 2021, approximate).
Marshall Radio / OffshoreAlert2024-12-01
Communication from Benaiah to the Kinnetz Trust allegedly stopped (late 2024, approximate).
Marshall Radio2025-03-01
Trustee Timothy Kinnetz allegedly discovered the fund's Kraken exchange account balance had dropped to less than $600.
Marshall Radio2025-04-01
Wiener allegedly obtained a fraudulent $1 million line of credit from a Sioux Falls financial institution using falsified documents and another person's identity (basis for bank fraud/identity theft counts).
The Block2025-06-01
A federal search related to the Benaiah investigation was reportedly conducted.
OffshoreAlert2025-07-18
Timothy Kinnetz, as trustee, filed a civil lawsuit against Benaiah Holdings, affiliated entities, Wiener, Joshua Dewitt, and Christopher Hmielewski in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota.
Marshall Radio / OffshoreAlert2025-08-15
U.S. District Judge Camela Theeler issued an order freezing Benaiah's assets, finding evidence of potential fraud and deceptive statements by Wiener.
The Dakota Scout2026-06-01
A federal grand jury in the District of South Dakota indicted Benjamin Paul Wiener on 29 counts including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft (indictment reported as returned in June 2026).
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota2026-07-10
Wiener appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy and pleaded not guilty to all 29 counts.
CryptoTimes2026-07-16
News outlets reported publicly on the unsealed indictment and Wiener's not-guilty plea.
CryptoTimes2026-09-15
Trial is scheduled to begin in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota.
The BlockDecision Log
- #1publish⛓ pending7/22/2026, 1:58:25 AMhash: 3dmfgsYNTHc6SorZLrjPi9VHjDtjxuaPPzG8o7Dbgkqj
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 7/22/2026, 1:57:42 AM
last updated: 7/22/2026, 1:58:25 AM
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