Texas Man Who Orchestrated $20 Million Cryptocurrency Scam Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison

<p class="text-align-justify">CHICAGO — A Texas man who orchestrated a cryptocurrency scam that bilked nearly 1,000 investors out of more than $20 million has been sentenced to 23 years in federal prison.</p><p class="text-align-justify">From 2018 to 2023, ROBERT DUNLAP claimed to operate a cryptocurrency business that sold a purported digital asset called “Meta-1 Coin” through a “Meta-1 Coin Trust.”&nbsp; Dunlap made numerous false and misleading statements to potential and actual investors, including claims that the Meta-1 Coin was backed by as much as $1 billion in art and $44 billion in gold.&nbsp; Dunlap falsely claimed that an accounting firm had audited the gold and certified its value.&nbsp; The purported art collection was alleged to have included works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and other acclaimed artists.&nbsp; Dunlap created bogus legal documents to conceal the fact that he did not actually possess the gold or art.</p><p class="text-align-justify">Dunlap’s fraud scheme caused nearly 1,000 investors to lose more than $20 million.&nbsp; Many of the victim investors lost all of their savings.</p><p class="text-align-justify">A federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois last year convicted Dunlap, 55, of Houston, Texas, on mail fraud charges.&nbsp; On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt sentenced Dunlap to 23 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay restitution to his victims.</p><p class="text-align-justify">The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta,&nbsp;Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and&nbsp;Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.&nbsp; Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office&nbsp;for the Eastern District of Virginia.</p><p class="text-align-justify">“Defendant lied to investors for years telling them that he had created a safe investment for them,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Paige Nutini argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.&nbsp;“Over the years, defendant was unrepentant and his<strong>&nbsp;</strong>lies became bigger.&nbsp; Would-be criminals planning to engage in similar conduct need to know that such actions will be met with a serious repercussion that includes loss of one’s liberty for an extended period of time.”</p><p class="text-align-justify">“Robert Dunlap didn’t just take money—he took years of hard work, trust, and financial security from his victims,” said IRS-CI SAC Jobes.&nbsp; “He used lies and deception to pull in millions, leaving some investors with nothing.&nbsp; Crimes like this don’t just hit bank accounts—they upend lives.&nbsp; This 23-year sentence reflects the depth of that harm and sends a clear warning: Those who exploit others for personal gain will be found, and they will face serious consequences.”</p>