Founder of multi-million dollar NFT Rugpull ‘Mutant Ape Planet’ faces fraud charges
Federal charges are coming against a twenty-four-year-old NFT project developer who cashed in on his NFT collection and made off with nearly $3 million in funds. It’s the latest federal hunt for crypto rye pullers, an effort that’s relatively new for federal agencies when it comes to NFTs. It is also a stark reminder to those creating projects with bad intentions that there is no guarantee of protection just because NFTs are unregulated.
Let’s dive into the story surrounding this latest carpet — and the implications of the impending federal charges.
‘Mutant Ape Planet’ NFT collection
A new information release from the Department of Justice details what is described as a $2.9 million “international fraud scheme” by twenty-four-year-old French national Aurelien Michel, who had been living in the United Arab Emirates.
The filing alleges that Michel, who was arrested at New York’s JFK airport, yanked his ‘Mutant Ape Planet’ NFT collection.
A statement in the release outlines that Michel “perpetrated a ‘rug pull’ scheme – stealing nearly $3 million from investors for his own personal use. Buyers of Mutant Ape Planet NFTs thought they were investing in a trendy new collectible, but they were deceived and received none of the promised benefits,” according to Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The report goes on to detail how Michel promised goods, metaverse land, and other potential benefits to Mutant Ape Planet holders that were left completely unaddressed before Michel left the community high and dry. The nail in the coffin comes from a quote from Michel on Discord, where he admitted to toughing out the community after they became “way too toxic.”
A thread from crypto’s resident scout ZachXBT describes it Michel hosted the second figure 7 and up rye moveincluding Crazy Camel Club and others.
Ethereum continues to be the leading player in NFTs. | Source: ETH-USD on TradingView.com
DoJ strikes again
The Justice Department is putting down the hammer once again, a sign of a potential escalation of strategy by the feds when it comes to cracking down on crypto hackers.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen similar jurisdictions pursue Solana-based Mango Markets operator Avraham Eisenberg, who notoriously described his ventures as a “highly profitable trading strategy.”
If the post-FTX maneuvers by federal authorities are any indication, hackers and exploiters may be on thin ice with US authorities. After Eisenberg’s arrest, we saw this week that the feds also set their sights on ex-Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.
We will see if the bear market conditions, consisting of a crypto market with more eyes now than at any time in recent years, lead to a faster hand of the law when it comes to high crime.
