Aurelien Michel
French national who created the 'Mutant Ape Planet' NFT collection — a knockoff of Mutant Ape Yacht Club — and rug-pulled buyers after raising ~$2.9M. He pleaded guilty to wire-fraud conspiracy in 2023; in 2024 he was sentenced to time served plus a $15K fine and $1.4M forfeiture.
Also known as: Aurelien Michel
Bio
Aurelien Michel, a French national, created "Mutant Ape Planet," a knockoff of the popular Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs. He promised buyers "exclusive" rewards (staking tokens, merchandise, metaverse land) to boost value, then abandoned the project after raising about $2.9 million — a "rug pull." He later admitted on social media: "We never intended to rug but the community went way too toxic." [1][2]
Legal outcome
Arrested at JFK Airport in January 2023, Michel pleaded guilty to wire-fraud conspiracy in November 2023. On November 1, 2024, Judge Margo Brodie sentenced him to the one month already served, a $15,000 fine, and $1.4 million forfeiture — far short of the 37 months prosecutors sought, the judge citing difficulty quantifying losses. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
- Mutant Ape Planet Fraudster Avoids Prison for NFT Scam — Bloomberg Law
- Mutant Ape NFT ripoff creator to forfeit $1.4M, avoids prison — Cointelegraph
See also
- Blockchain Terminal (BCT)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO (BCT tokens, ~$30M) for a 'Blockchain Terminal' — a Bloomberg-style crypto trading terminal. The SEC and DOJ said convicted ex-hedge-funder Boaz Manor secretly ran it under a fake identity ('Shaun MacDonald'), using associate Edith Pardo as a front, and lied about the product's adoption.
- Dropil (DROP)TokensAn ICO for the DROP token built around a fake 'Dex' trading bot. The SEC said it raised ~$1.9M while claiming $54M from 34,000 investors, and that the founders falsified evidence during the probe. Founders Jeremy McAlpine and Zachary Matar pleaded guilty to securities fraud (36 and 30 months).
- CluCoin (CLU)Tokens
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