META 1 Coin cover image on LinkedIn
An American who orchestrated a $20 million fraud with the cover image of META 1 Coin, a cryptocurrency based on fictional masterpieces by Van Gogh and Picasso, was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
An American resident of Houston, Textas was sentenced to a long prison sentence after stealing millions in savings from investors through a fraudulent cryptocurrency which was supposedly guaranteed by a collection of works by Dalí, Van Gogh, Picasso and other famous artists.
According to , almost a thousand people were scammed in more than 20 million dollars, and many lost all of their savings.
The 55-year-old Texan, identified as Robert Dunlaphad been found by a federal jury in Illinois in 2025 guilty of mail fraud. Earlier this month, a federal judge sentenced him to 23 years in federal prison and ordered the payment of compensation to victims.
For five years, between 2018 and 2023, Dunlap claimed to be running a cryptocurrency business that traded a digital asset, to ““, and told investors that the asset was guaranteed up to a billion dollars in works of art and 44 billion dollars in goldassuring victims that an auditing company had checked the gold and confirmed its value.
Forged legal documents and fraudulent insurance documents, among others, concealed the fact that Dunlap did not own neither of works of art nor of gold.
“The defendant lied to investors for yearstelling them that he had created a safe investment for them”, argued the assistant federal prosecutors Jared Hasten e Paige Nutini in the sentencing memorandum presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. “Over the years, the defendant has shown no regret and his lies became bigger and bigger.
“Os potential criminals who plan to become involved in similar conduct need to know that Such actions will have serious consequencesincluding the loss of freedom for a prolonged period”, says the MP’s note.
According to the indictment, Dunlap falsely told his victims that they could withdraw your investments at any timeexchanging META-1 Coin for other cryptocurrencies or conventional currencies, including US dollars.
“Robert Dunlap didn’t just take money. He stole years of hard work, trust and financial security from his victims,” he said. Adam Jobesspecial agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, in a statement.
“He resorted to lies and deception to raise millions, leaving some investors with nothing“, declared Jobes. “Crimes like this don’t just affect bank accounts. Destroy lives“.
