A Texas man acquired a 23-year federal jail sentence for operating a crypto rip-off. The fraud drained almost 1,000 buyers of greater than $20 million via a sham asset-backed token.
Robert Dunlap, 55, of Houston, offered a digital asset known as Meta-1 Coin from 2018 to 2023. Federal prosecutors within the Northern District of Illinois led the case.
How the Meta-1 Coin Crypto Rip-off labored
In line with the press launch, Dunlap constructed his pitch round fabricated reserves. He advised buyers that Meta-1 Coin was backed by as much as $1 billion in artwork. The gathering supposedly included works attributed to Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and others.
He additionally claimed roughly $44 billion in gold stood behind the token. An accounting agency had audited and authorized the bullion, Dunlap falsely advised consumers.
“Defendant lied to buyers for years telling them that he had created a protected funding for them. Through the years, defendant was unrepentant and his lies turned greater. Would-be criminals planning to have interaction in related conduct must know that such actions shall be met with a severe repercussion that features lack of one’s liberty for an prolonged time period,” Assistant US Attorneys Jared Hasten and Paige Nutini argued within the authorities’s sentencing memorandum.
A federal jury convicted Dunlap on two counts of mail fraud in November 2025. US District Choose LaShonda A. Hunt handed down the 23-year sentence this week. She additionally ordered restitution for fraud victims, a lot of whom reported dropping their life financial savings.
US Legal professional Andrew S. Boutros and particular brokers from the FBI’s Chicago Area Workplace and IRS Felony Investigation (IRS-CI) introduced the sentence. They acquired help from the Securities and Change Fee (SEC) and the US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Jap District of Virginia.
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The publish Houston Man Sentenced to 23 Years Over Faux Gold- and Artwork-Backed Crypto Scheme appeared first on BeInCrypto.