PANews reported on December 21 that the U.S. Department of Justice released a six-count indictment accusing two Southern California men of defrauding investors of more than $22 million in cryptocurrency through a series of digital asset projects. According to court documents, from May 2021 to May 2024, Hay and Mayo sponsored multiple NFT and other digital asset projects and carried out publicity campaigns to support these projects. Hay and Mayo are suspected of making or causing others to make materially false and misleading statements about upcoming digital asset projects, and providing false and misleading project “roadmaps” detailing plans after the launch of NFT or digital asset projects, which the sponsors never intended to implement.
Hay, Mayo, and others allegedly used these tactics in multiple other digital asset projects, including Vault of Gems, Faceless, Sinful Souls, Clout Coin, Dirty Dogs, Uncovered, MoonPortal, Squiggles, and Roost Coin. Hay and Mayo also allegedly used various tactics to conceal their involvement in fraudulent projects, such as misidentifying other individuals or causing other individuals to be misidentified as project owners.
