Bored Ape impersonator pleads guilty

The inventor behind the fraudulent NFT project "Mutant Ape Planet" has pleaded guilty. He risks a prison sentence of several years over his head.

The founder of the now defunct NFT project "Mutant Ape Planet" has guilty pleaded to fraud in U.S. federal court in New York. Upon conviction, the French national risks up to five years in prison. According to the prosecution he would have accepted a refund of US$1.4 million.

The project led to a back pull

The defendant used the media reach of the well-known NFT collection "Bored Ape Yacht Club" to promote an apparently similar project with the "Mutant Ape Planet." However, this turned out to be a "back pull": about three million dollars in investor funds were stolen from the project.

"While the defendant pretended to sell dreamlike NFTs with rewards and benefits, he deceived investors and turned their dream into a nightmare of deception and losses," said special agent Thomas M. Fattorusso.

Also read: Bored Ape Yacht Club: Artists sentenced to multi-million dollar fine