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.
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
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
Evolved Apes (NFT)ProjectsAn NFT collection launched on OpenSea in September 2021 that promised a fighting game. About a week later its anonymous developer 'Evil Ape' vanished with 798 ETH (~$2.7M). In June 2024 U.S. prosecutors charged three U.K. nationals over the scheme.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.