千橡市男子因欺騙投資者超過 2200 萬美元的加密貨幣而被起訴

據美國司法部稱，經過國土安全部調查，一名千橡市男子因涉嫌詐騙投資者超過 2200 萬美元的加密貨幣而被起訴。

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.

美國司法部宣布，千橡市一名男子因涉嫌詐騙投資者超過 2,200 萬美元的加密貨幣而被起訴。

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.

據報道，12 月20 日，千橡市的加文·梅奧(Gavin Mayo) 和23 歲的比佛利山莊居民加布里埃爾·海(Gabriel Hay) 均對一項串謀電信詐欺罪、兩項電信詐欺罪和一項跟蹤罪名表示無罪。他們在繳納 20 萬美元保釋金後獲釋，審判定於 2 月在洛杉磯美國地方法院進行。

“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.”

「三年來，海伊和梅奧涉嫌向投資者撒謊，以騙取他們數百萬美元，」國土安全調查執行副主任卡特里娜·伯傑(Katrina Berger)在一份書面聲明中表示。 「此類技術詐欺計畫每年使投資者損失數百萬美元。僅僅因為此類犯罪不是暴力行為，並不意味著它們是沒有受害者的。

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

根據法庭文件，2021 年 5 月至 2024 年 5 月期間，Mayo 和 Hay 贊助了多個不可替代代幣（NFT）項目。

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

每一個 NFT 都代表一種獨特的資產，例如一件藝術品、數位內容或媒體。

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.

據稱，這兩人對其啟動數位資產項目的計劃做出了虛假和誤導性的說法，其中包括 Vault of Gems、Faceless、Sinful Souls、Clout Coin、Dirty Dogs、Uncovered、MoonPortal、Squiggles 和 Roost Coin。

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

然而，檢察官表示，這些人從未打算履行這些主張，並在從投資者那裡籌集資金後放棄了這些項目。

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

檢察官稱，他們試圖透過錯誤地指控其他人擁有這些項目來掩蓋自己參與這些計劃。

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

據報道，當一名專案經理試圖揭露海伊和梅奧的詐欺行為時，這些人向他和他的家人發送了威脅訊息。

“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.

「詐欺者利用新技術和金融產品竊取投資者的血汗錢，」司法部刑事部門負責人、首席副總檢察長妮可·阿根蒂耶里 (Nicole Argentieri) 在一份聲明中表示。

“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.

Argentieri 表示：“該部門致力於保護投資者，並將繼續與我們的執法合作夥伴合作，根除涉及加密貨幣和其他數位資產的詐欺行為，並將犯罪者繩之以法。”

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.

如果罪名成立，Hay 和 Mayo 因共謀和電信詐欺罪名將面臨最高 20 年監禁，而跟蹤罪名將面臨最高 5 年監禁。