Texas Man Charged by DOJ for Leading $10 Million Meta-1 Coin Scam

Unveiling the Meta-1 Coin Scam

Recently, Texas resident Robert Dunlap was arrested on federal mail fraud charges in connection with the Meta-1 Coin scam, which resulted in investors losing over $10 million.

The Allegations Against Dunlap

The Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that Dunlap developed Meta-1 Coin in 2018, claiming it was backed by over $44 billion in gold and art, including works by renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh.

Fraudulent Activities

Investigations found that Dunlap never purchased the claimed artwork and fabricated legal documents to conceal the lack of assets. He even set up a cryptocurrency exchange using bots to create a false appearance of market activity.

Dunlap’s Legal Troubles

Dunlap is facing four counts of mail fraud, with each charge carrying a maximum sentence of two decades in federal prison. The scheme targeted victims by instructing them to send checks via mail to secure their investments.

The Impact of the Scam

Blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis highlighted that scamming is most successful during market upswings and high exuberance. Despite conflicting statistics on crypto scams, the FBI and Chainalysis agree on the prevalence of fraudulent schemes in the digital asset space.