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Robert Dunlap was recently sentenced to 23 years in prison for operating a cryptocurrency scam that stole more than $20 million from approximately 1,000 investors. Between 2018 and 2023 Dunlap sold a digital asset he called “Meta-1 Coin” which he marketed through social media, seminars and an Internet radio show.
In a sentencing memorandum presented to the judge, FBI Special Agent Adam Jobes wrote, “Robert Dunlap didn’t just take money – he took years of hard work, trust, and financial security from his victims. He used lies and deception to pull in millions, leaving some investors with nothing. Crimes like this don’t just hit bank accounts – they upend lives. This 23-year sentence reflects the depth of that harm and send a clear warning: Those who exploit others for personal gain will be found and they will face serious consequences.”
Dunlap told potential investors that the token was secured by $44 billion in gold and a $1 billion art collection featuring works of Picasso, Dali and Van Gogh. He also told investors that the cryptocurrency was fully guaranteed and capable of generating returns of as much as 224,923%. He further told investors that his token offering was independently audited and provided his victims with phony records and insurance documents to make the scam appear believable.
There was no gold or art and Meta Exchange, the website he created for the cryptocurrency, used automated trading bots to make it appear that the Meta-1 coin was profitable when it was not.
In fact, coins were never distributed. Investors funds were used for luxury purchases by Dunlap including a Ferrari.
Incredibly, prior to the Justice Department criminal action being commenced against Dunlap in 2024, the SEC had instituted a civil fraud action against Dunlap in 2020, obtaining temporary orders against Dunlap, but this did little to slow down his actions as he continued to operate his scam on hundreds more investors before he was finally stopped when the criminal case against him was commenced in 2024.
While it is never appropriate to blame victims for being scammed, there are a number of basic steps that Dunlap’s victims could have taken that would have indicated that Dunlap's enterprise was a scam.
No one should ever invest in anything until they have independently investigated both the investment and the person offering the investment.
The Meta-1 Coin investment was not independently traded on any public exchanges. Nor did it appear on a public blockchain or a verifiable token contract. As for the art and gold supposedly securing the digital asset, Dunlap falsified records to support his lies about ownership of the art and gold, but savvy investors should have sought independently audited verification of ownership of the art and gold.
A first step in looking into any investment advisor is to search the FINRA BrokerCheck data base which will tell you if the person touting the investment is a registered investment advisor and whether there are any legal actions against the advisor. Additionally, Dunlap also was not listed as a registered advisor on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database.
If anyone had looked up Dunlap before investing with him, they would have learned that he was not a registered broker or a licensed investment advisor. Anyone investing with him after 2020 could have found the SEC civil charges against him for selling unregistered securities and making phony audit documents.
Finally, perhaps the biggest red flag was guaranteed returns of the ridiculously high 224,923%. The old adage still applies, if it appears too good to be true, it usually is.
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