The main culprit of the Meta-1 Coin scam has been sentenced to 23 years in prison, having claimed a return rate of 224923% and forged a gold reserve of 44 billion dollars

According to Forbes, a U.S. court sentenced Robert Dunlap, the operator of the cryptocurrency scam Meta-1 Coin, to 23 years in prison. He was accused of defrauding approximately 1,000 investors through a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment project from 2018 to 2023, with the amount involved exceeding $20 million.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Dunlap claimed that the "Meta-1 Coin" he issued was backed by $44 billion in gold reserves and $1 billion worth of artworks by Picasso, Dali, Van Gogh, etc., and promised a maximum return rate of 224,923%, while providing investors with forged audit documents and insurance materials.

Investigations revealed that the so-called gold and art assets did not exist, and the "Meta Exchange" website he built used automated trading bots to create the illusion of profits. The related tokens were never actually issued on-chain. Investor funds were subsequently used to purchase luxury items, including Ferraris.

It is worth noting that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had already filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Dunlap in 2020, but he continued to operate the project until he was criminally charged in 2024. The FBI stated that the case "destroyed the wealth and trust accumulated by many victims over the years."