Texas man sentenced 23 years for $20M art-backed crypto fraud

Robert Dunlap, 55, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt in the Northern District of Illinois after a federal jury convicted him last year on mail fraud charges.

Prosecutors said Dunlap raised more than $20 million from nearly 1,000 investors by selling Meta-1 Coin while falsely claiming the token was backed by about $44 billion in gold and roughly $1 billion in art, including works by Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Salvador Dalí. He also asserted those assets had been audited, a claim investigators say was false.

Authorities reported that the audits and the asset holdings did not exist. Many investors lost substantial sums, and some were left with nothing.

Judge Hunt ordered Dunlap to pay restitution to his victims. Court filings state the 23-year sentence reflects the federal charges and the scale of reported investor losses.

Adam Jobes, special agent-in-charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, described the scheme as deceptive and said Dunlap ‘used lies and deception to pull in millions, leaving some investors with nothing.' He added the sentence ‘reflects the depth of that harm' and warned that those who exploit others for personal gain will face consequences.

Prosecutors brought mail fraud charges based on Dunlap's representations about asset backing and audited reserves and the financial harm to investors. The case is among federal actions targeting crypto projects that claim tangible-asset backing or audited reserves but fail to deliver.