In an exciting development, the creator of the NFT fraud collection “Mutant Ape Planet” Aurelien Michel will avoid a prison sentence following a recent court ruling. However, the defendant was ordered to forfeit more than $1 million as a penalty for collusion.
Mutant Ape Creator To Pay $15,000, Technically Avoids Jail Time
In January 2023, the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York issued an indictment against Michel accusing the latter of defrauding unsuspecting investors of $2.9 million by selling “Mutant Ape Planet” NFTs, modeled after the famous “Mutant Ape Yacht. Club collection.
France marketed these digital assets to a minority of people in 2022 with promises of several rewards such as merchandise and a separate world designed to increase the value of these NFTs upon acquisition.
However, Michel reneged on these promises as he went into recession, diverting all the money raised from investors to personal expenses. In November 2023, the nefarious NFT creator pleaded guilty to fraud charges brought by US prosecutors and was sentenced to five years in prison.
However, in a November 1 Bloomberg report, U.S. Judge Margo Brodie gave Michel a one-month sentence, to be served following the defendant’s arrest in 2022. In addition, the Frenchman is expected to pay a fine of $15,000 and $1.4. millions of his wealth.
Judge Brodie’s sentence is very light compared to the prosecutors’ request that he be sentenced to 37 months in prison. In response, Michel’s lawyers argued that he could be sentenced to prison as all investors receive “digital art” that fits the definition of an NFT designed to ensure the unique ownership of various types of digital art.
The American judge seemed to side with the defense attorney as he told Michel:
The amount lost is unclear. It goes without saying that you and your planners ended up profiting or at least getting $2.9 million from the project. But there is also no argument that everyone who bought an NFT got or got something of value. What that amount is, is not clear.
According to Bloomberg, Michel’s case is one of three US cases against him for NFT fraud and the first to receive a court verdict.
NFT Sales Reach $356 Million in October
According to data from NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam, the total amount of NFT traded in October rose to $356.62 million representing a 17.47% gain over the values recorded since September. Last month’s reported sales total was made up of 7,231,056 sales involving 964,210 unique sellers and 616,546 unique buyers.
Featured image from Bigney Law Firm, chart from Tradingview
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