CRYPTO CRIME | Texas Man Who Orchestrated a $20 Million Crypto Scam Sentenced to 23 Years in Federal Prison

A U.S. court has sentenced Robert Dunlap to 23 years in prison for orchestrating a cryptocurrency fraud scheme involving the so-called Meta-1 Coin which defrauded investors of millions of dollars, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Dunlap, a Texas resident, misled nearly 1,000 investors between 2018 and 2023 by claiming the digital asset was backed by vast reserves of gold and fine art, including works by renowned artists, when no such assets existed.

He marketed the token through the’Meta-1 Coin Trust,’ falsely stating it was audited and insured, and used fabricated documents and automated trading activity to inflate its perceived value, according to court filings.

The scheme generated at least $14 million in investor losses, U.S. authorities said.

Dunlap had previously been convicted on fraud charges following a jury trial in Chicago where he faced a potential sentence of up to 40 years in prison.

Dunlap and his co-conspirators allegedly marketed Meta-1 Coin as a risk-free investment promising returns of up to 224,923%, but authorities said the tokens were never distributed and investor funds were instead diverted to personal expenses, including the purchase of luxury vehicles such as a Ferrari, according to the SEC.

The case is part of a broader crackdown by U.S. regulators and law enforcement on fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes targeting retail investors.

“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,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Paige Nutini argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

Americans lost more than $11 billion to cryptocurrency scams in 2025 marking a sharp rise in fraud tied to digital assets, according to the latest report by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

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