{"id":43881,"date":"2024-12-23T05:20:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T05:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/california-duo-faces-charges-in-22-million-crypto-fraud-case\/"},"modified":"2024-12-23T05:20:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T05:20:52","slug":"california-duo-faces-charges-in-22-million-crypto-fraud-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/california-duo-faces-charges-in-22-million-crypto-fraud-case\/","title":{"rendered":"California Duo Faces Charges in $22 Million Crypto Fraud Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Crypto News &#8211; iGaming.org )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Federal prosecutors have charged California residents Gabriel Hay and Gavin Mayo in connection with a $22 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme. The indictment alleges the two orchestrated multiple \u201crug pull\u201d scams and abandoned NFT projects while pocketing investor funds.<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, Hay, based in Beverly Hills, and Mayo, from Thousand Oaks, executed these fraudulent activities between May 2021 and May 2024. Prosecutors claim the 23-year-olds promoted projects such as the \u201cVault of Gems NFT,\u201d attracting millions of dollars from investors before abruptly abandoning the ventures.<\/p>\n<p>To evade accountability, the defendants allegedly misrepresented ownership of their projects, falsely attributing them to others. Furthermore, the indictment accuses the pair of engaging in harassment tactics, targeting a project manager and their family.<\/p>\n<p>Both individuals face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of stalking. Each wire fraud count could result in a 20-year prison sentence, while the stalking charge carries an additional five-year penalty.<\/p>\n<h2>Crypto Fraud on the Rise<\/h2>\n<p>The case highlights a troubling trend in cryptocurrency-related crimes. The FBI reports Americans lost over $5.6 billion to crypto fraud in 2023, reflecting a 45% increase from 2022. While crypto crimes represent just 10% of financial fraud complaints, they account for nearly half of all financial losses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-items box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"box-100 space-org-3-item relative border-tb mt-1 \">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms-ins box-100 text-center relative\"> <strong>5BTC or 111% + 111 Free Spins!<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>New players only. Exclusive 111% Welcome Bonus + 111 Free Spins<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Investment scams, like those allegedly carried out by Hay and Mayo, remain the most damaging. Such schemes caused approximately $4 billion in losses across the U.S. last year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/crypto\/california-duo-faces-charges-in-22-million-crypto-fraud-case\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Crypto News &#8211; iGaming.org ) Federal prosecutors have charged California residents Gabriel Hay and Gavin Mayo in connection with a $22 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme. The indictment alleges the two orchestrated multiple \u201crug pull\u201d scams and abandoned NFT projects while pocketing investor funds. According to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, Hay, based [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":43882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}