In the United States, a court sentenced the creator of the Meta-1 Coin cryptocurrency scheme to 23 years in prison., 2026/04/17 10:15:43

The Northern District Court of Illinois has sentenced 55-year-old Texas resident Robert Dunlap to 23 years in prison for orchestrating the Meta-1 Coin cryptocurrency scheme, which resulted in over 1,000 investors losing approximately $20 million.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, from 2018 to 2023, Dunlap marketed a digital asset known as Meta-1 Coin through the organization Meta-1 Coin Trust. He made misleading claims that this cryptocurrency was backed by artwork valued at up to $1 billion and gold worth $44 billion. The alleged art collection included works by renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Vincent van Gogh, and others.

Dunlap falsely asserted that his gold reserves had been verified by an auditing firm, and he presented investors with counterfeit documents. In reality, he possessed neither gold nor artwork, as emphasized by the Justice Department. In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered him to compensate the affected investors.

“The defendant deceived investors for years, assuring them of the safety of their investments. He did not merely take their money — he robbed his victims of years of hard work and financial security. Such crimes do not just impact bank accounts — they disrupt lives. A 23-year prison term should serve as a warning to other criminals: those who deceive others for profit will face serious consequences,” stated the prosecution.

Previously, a Los Angeles court handed down a lighter sentence to a Chinese national for money laundering and cryptocurrency fraud amounting to $36.9 million — the offender received three years and ten months in prison.