The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is charging two Californian men for allegedly initiating a multi-million dollar non-fungible token (NFT) investment scam.
In a new press release, the Justice Department says it is charging 23-year-olds Gabriel Hay of Beverly Hills and Gavin Mayo of Thousand Oaks with conspiracy and wire fraud after they were accused of running multiple crypto rug pull scams involving NFTs .
In the rug pull scam, creators of a new asset intentionally inflate its price before selling their holdings, causing the asset’s value to decline and investors to remain in control.
According to court documents, the duo promoted multiple altcoin and NFT projects between May 2021 and May 2024 and allegedly made false statements about the projects or caused others to make false statements, such as their launch date.
An example provided by the DOJ describes how they allegedly promoted the NFT project Vault of Gems, which they falsely claimed was the “first NFT project pegged to a hard asset.”
However, they abandoned the project after receiving millions of dollars from investors. Other projects the duo have been involved in include “Faceless”, “Sinful Souls”,…
