Mutant Ape Planet NFT Developer Busted for Rug Pull Scam
Aurelien Michel, developer of Mutant Ape Planet NFT, was arrested Wednesday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport on federal charges of defrauding buyers of Mutant Ape Planet NFT of more than $2.9 million in cryptocurrency. It was not specified whether Michel would be leaving or arriving, but he is a French national living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A classic “carpet cover”: According to federal investigators, Michel launched his Mutant Ape collection in early 2022, selling the cartoon monkeys for approximately $430 apiece. The website for the project promised that buyers would receive a wide range of benefits as the sale progresses, including raffles and rewards funded by the sale of the collection. But prosecutors say that instead of continuing to develop the collection and offering buyers the rewards he promised, Michel abandoned the project and took the proceeds for personal use – the so-called “rug pull” scam.
Michel confesses, but blames everyone else: Federal prosecutors claimed that in a social media chat between Michel and both current and prospective buyers, Michel admitted he had “made the move” but insisted that had not been his intention when he created NFT.
“We never intended to incubate, but society became far too toxic,” Michel wrote.
New Industry, Ancient Scams: Federal investigators, in written statements, emphasized that while digital assets are new, the scams being perpetrated are long established.
“As alleged, the defendants used a traditional criminal scheme to defraud consumers eager to participate in a new digital asset market,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “Protection against fraud and manipulation extends to all consumers and investors, including those participating in the rapidly evolving market for NFTs and other crypto-assets. Our office is committed to bringing to justice any criminal actor who abuses markets for personal gain.”
Peter Page is a contributing editor at Grit Daily. Formerly at Entrepreneur.com, he began his journalism career as a newspaper reporter long before print journalism had even heard of the Internet, much less realized that it would destroy the industry. The years he worked as a police reporter have a great influence on his worldview to this day. Page has some expertise in environmental policy, energy economics, ecosystem dynamics, the anthropology of urban gangs, the workings of civil and criminal courts, politics, the machinery of government, and the art of crystallizing thought in writing.
