The Breton from Pabu Aurélien Michel, 26, was sentenced this Friday by a New York judge to one month in prison for NFT fraud of $2.9 million. The Breton is also sentenced to a fine of 15,000 dollars, accompanied by one year of supervised release and the confiscation of 1.4 million dollars (1.3 million euros), indicates the press service of the State prosecutor’s office. -United with the Telegram.
The judge therefore did not follow the prosecutor’s requests, who asked for more than three years in prison. In fact, Aurélien Michel will not return behind bars, because he has already served this prison sentence: he had been temporarily incarcerated in a Brooklyn penal establishment, just after his arrest at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. York in January 2023. He was released and was living, pending his trial, on probation and under house arrest in New York.
“Modern Stratagem”
At the beginning of 2022, Aurélien Michel launched, with others, the “Mutant Ape Planet”, a series of virtual images associated with NFTs plagiarizing one of the most famous collections of the genre. The sale allowed him to raise 2.9 million dollars (2.7 million euros). It promised buyers numerous services to increase the value of these NFTs.
But the project was ultimately abandoned, causing the price of “Mutant Ape Planet” to plummet. A “rug pull” type scam, for justice, which retains the intentional nature of the abandonment after having collected funds. Prosecutors said it was a “modern get-rich-quick scheme,” according to Bloomberg.
The Breton had also pleaded guilty. American justice has also linked Aurélien Michel to other NFT scams, including the “Fashion Ape” and “Crazy Camels” NFTs.
Senegal
