1 year ago
The U.S. authorities has arrested and charged the creator of “Mutant Ape Planet” non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for allegedly defrauding crypto investors. “The purchasers were ‘rug pulled,'” the Department of Justice (DOJ) described, adding that millions of dollars successful cryptocurrency were diverted for the NFT creator’s idiosyncratic benefits.
DOJ Takes Action Against NFT Rug Pull Scheme
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that Aurelien Michel has been charged with “defrauding purchasers of ‘Mutant Ape Planet’ NFTs, a benignant of integer asset, of much than $2.9 cardinal successful cryptocurrency.”
The suspect is simply a French nationalist residing successful the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He was arrested Wednesday astatine John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The Mutant Ape Planet (MAP) NFTs were marketed and sold with mendacious promises of galore rewards and benefits, including exclusive opportunities for further investments, giveaways, merchandise, and different rewards, the DOJ detailed, elaborating:
After selling retired of the NFTs, the purchasers were ‘rug pulled’ … Millions worthy of the NFT purchasers’ cryptocurrency was diverted for Michel’s idiosyncratic benefit.
Mutant Ape Planet is simply a postulation of 6,799 unsocial mutant apes that has nary narration with the fashionable Bored Ape Yacht Club, a antithetic acceptable of monkey-themed NFTs.
Ivan J. Arvelo, peculiar cause successful complaint of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) successful New York, described: “Aurelien Michel perpetrated a ‘rug pull’ strategy – stealing astir $3 cardinal from investors for his ain idiosyncratic use.”
The DOJ noted that “in a societal media chat with existent and prospective purchasers, Michel admitted to the fraudulent ‘rug pull,’ but blamed the assemblage of NFT purchasers for his actions, stating, ‘We ne'er intended to rug but the assemblage went mode excessively toxic.'”
While the Mutant Ape Planet NFT developers “promised to money a assemblage wallet for marketing, and would connection purchasers raffles, giveaways, airdrops, and tokens with staking features,” the DOJ said:
The purchasers of the Mutant Ape Planet NFTs did not person immoderate of the promised benefits acceptable retired above.
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Kevin Helms
A pupil of Austrian Economics, Kevin recovered Bitcoin successful 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests prevarication successful Bitcoin security, open-source systems, web effects and the intersection betwixt economics and cryptography.
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