Federal prosecutors have released an indictment against California residents Gabriel Hay and Gavin Mayo, charging them with a $22 million crypto fraud scheme.
The indictment comes as the FBI reports that Americans lost over $5.6 billion to crypto scams in 2023 – a 45% increase from the previous year.
As ABC News reported, citing prosecutors, Hay, of Beverly Hills, and Mayo, of Thousand Oaks, allegedly ran multiple “rugpull” schemes between May 2021 and May 2024. They also allegedly created NFT projects to attract investors before abandoning them while keeping the funds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged both individuals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of stalking. Each count of fraud carries a prison sentence of 20 years, while the stalking charge carries a possible additional five years.
The pair, both 23, allegedly promoted several fraudulent projects, including the Vault of Gems NFT, and raised millions from investors before abandoning the ventures.
The indictment details their attempts to conceal their involvement by falsely attributing ownership of the project to others. Prosecutors also accuse the defendants of launching a campaign of harassment against the manager and his family.
The case is part of a broader trend in cryptocurrency crime: The FBI reports that while cryptocurrency-related crimes only account for 10% of financial fraud complaints, they accounted for nearly half of all financial losses suffered by Americans from scams in 2023.
Investment plans similar to those allegedly undertaken by Hay and Mayo caused the highest…
