Thousand Oaks Man Indicted for Defrauding Investors of More Than $22 Million in Cryptocurrency

Following a Homeland Security investigation, a Thousand Oaks man has been indicted for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $22 million in cryptocurrency, according to the United States Department of Justice.

A Thousand Oaks man has been indicted for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $22 million in cryptocurrency, the United States Department of Justice announced.

Gavin Mayo, of Thousand Oaks, and Gabriel Hay, a 23-year-old Beverly Hills resident, both pleaded not guilty Dec. 20 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of stalking, according to the Justice Department. They were released from custody on $200,000 bail, and their trial is scheduled to take place in February at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

“For three years, Hay and Mayo allegedly lied to their investors in order to defraud them out of millions of dollars,” Katrina Berger, Homeland Security Investigations’ executive associate director, said in a written statement. “Such technological fraud schemes cost investors millions of dollars every year. Just because such crimes aren’t violent does not mean they are victimless.”

Between May 2021 and May 2024, Mayo and Hay sponsored several nonfungible token, or NFT, projects, according to court documents.

NFTs each represent a unique asset like a piece of art, digital content or media.

The two men allegedly made false and misleading claims regarding their plans to launch the digital asset projects, which included Vault of Gems, Faceless, Sinful Souls, Clout Coin, Dirty Dogs, Uncovered, MoonPortal, Squiggles and Roost Coin.

Prosecutors, however, said the men never intended to fulfill those claims and abandoned the projects after collecting funds from investors.

They tried to cover up their involvement in the schemes by falsely accusing other people of owning the projects, prosecutors said.

When one project manager attempted to expose Hay and Mayo’s fraud, the men reportedly sent him and his family threatening messages.

“Fraudsters take advantage of new technologies and financial products to steal investors’ hard-earned money,” Principal Deputy Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a statement.

“The department is committed to protecting investors and will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to root out fraud involving cryptocurrency and other digital assets and bring offenders to justice,” Argentieri said.

If convicted, Hay and Mayo face up to 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy and wire fraud counts and up to five years on the stalking count.