A Texas man has been convicted of federal charges after he defrauded 1,000 investors out of $14 million with a crypto currency scam, according to court documents.
Robert Dunlap, 54, was convicted Monday by a Chicago jury on two counts of mail fraud. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
He used the “Meta-1 Coin” through a “Meta-1 Coin Trust” causing 1,000 investors to lose at least $14 million, prosecutors said.
Dunlap claimed the coin was backed by $44 billion in gold — which he said had been audited and certified by an accounting firm — and a $1 billion art collection that he alleged included works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, among others, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said he forged legal and insurance documents to try to prove he had the assets.
He then used bots to inflate the coin’s value in the “Meta Marketplace.”
Dunlap is set to be sentenced Feb. 17.
