The developer was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to Cointelegraph.
According to Cointelegraph, creator Aurelien Michel of the Mutant Ape Yacht Club rip-off line, Mutant Ape Planet, was detained in New York on suspicion of defrauding investors of $2.9 million using a “rug pull scheme.”
According to Cointelegraph, the arrest took place at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 4, 2023. Ivan J. Arvelo, a homeland security agent, said: “Buyers of Mutant Ape Planet NFTs felt they were investing in a fashionable new collectible, but they were tricked and received none of the advertised benefits.”
The International Revenue Service agent Thomas Fattorusso was mentioned in a press release from the Department of Justice that stated that “Michel defrauded investors by making false representations of, among other things, giveaways, tokens with staking features, and merchandise collections,” according to information provided by Cointelegraph. The statement further emphasized that Michel had confessed to pulling a rug on the populace through a social media discussion, claiming “we never planned to rug but the community got much beyond toxic.”
Additionally, Cointelegraph pointed out that following the arrest, the owners of the collection have turned to Twitter to share their side of the story. The project supposedly came under community monitoring after that. It is reported that a user going by the alias HTMadge has become actively involved in the project.
