The FBI has introduced that it’ll use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to assist return stolen funds to victims of a cryptocurrency fraud scheme tied to CluCoin, a mission launched in 2021.
On August 21, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Florida said that CluCoin founder Austin Michael Taylor pleaded responsible to wire fraud.
Taylor had transferred $1.14 million of investor funds from CluCoin to his private account, misusing cash raised in CluCoin’s preliminary coin providing (ICO) in Might 2021. The ICO funds have been initially meant for CluCoin-related initiatives.
Taylor then shifted his consideration to new ventures, together with the creation of NFTs, a pc recreation, and a metaverse platform. Regardless of these public initiatives, Taylor ultimately used the cash to gamble on-line.
In January 2023, Taylor publicly apologized for his actions, acknowledging his playing habit and expressing regret for misusing investor funds. He additionally agreed to pay again $1.14 million in restitution to victims of the fraud.
As a part of the restitution course of, the FBI will notify victims who’ve been recognized by means of NFTs. The company additionally inspired anybody who invested in CluCoin or believes they’re a sufferer, and those that obtained NFTs, to supply further info to the FBI by means of a devoted webpage.
In the meantime, Taylor is scheduled for sentencing on October 31, 2024. He faces a possible jail sentence of as much as 20 years for his wire fraud conviction.
This case is one in every of many current examples of fraud schemes within the cryptocurrency house. Earlier in Might, authorities arrested Aiden Pleterski, often known as the “Crypto King,” after months of investigation and complaints from traders. In one other high-profile case, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founding father of the now-defunct crypto trade FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in jail in March for his function within the trade’s collapse.
