Un Français a été arrêté à l’aéroport de New York, le 4 janvier 2023. Il est accusé par le ministère de la Justice américain d’avoir monté une arnaque NFT, et d’avoir récupéré près de 3 million de dollars en crypto- currency.
The NFTs it has enabled a large number of people to get rich. Among them, of course, we must count Beeple, the artist who sold the most expensive NFT in history, at 69 million dollars. But there is also a large number of scammers who have tried their luck with the non-fungible tokens.
It would seem that the last of them is a Frenchman. How reports BFMTV on January 6, 2023, Aurélien Michel, a 24-year-old French developer, was arrested at John Kennedy Airport in New York on January 4. He is accused of organizing a scam that cost the buyers of his NFTs more than $2.9 million. Hell of luck and a scam punishable by several years in prison.
A fraudulent collection of NFTs
Aurélien Michel’s Mutant Ape Planet collection is inspired by the famous Mutant Ape Boat Club, whose NFTs are worth up to several million euros. Aurélien Michel promised buyers of his Mutant Ape Planet that they would have access to exclusive promotions and investment opportunities. The collection, launched in January 2022 on OpenSea, has more than 6,000 NFTs.
However, after purchasing their NFT, Aurélien Michel’s clients would never receive the promised rewards. the Clarifies the US Department of Justice also that once the money was paid, the developer would transfer the funds from the project to his personal wallet and cease all communication. ” In total, more than $2.9 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen the ministry said.
Before definitively closing the shop, Aurélien Michel would however have sent a last message to the buyers, with whom he exchanged on a courier. The developer has reportedly admitted to making a “ carpet throw “, a type of scam in which investors are made” get the rug out from under your feet “, and never receive the expected counterparts as the founders walk away with the fund. Aurélien Michel would however have justified his act of him, explaining that he had ” he had never intended to scam anyone, but that the community had become too toxic “. I’m not sure if the excuse holds up in court.
