Crypto Token Founder Faces 20-Year Jail Term After Losing $1.14 Million of Investor’s Money to Gambling

The increasing number of crypto crimes and scams in the cryptocurrency space has taken a new turn after Austin Michael Taylor, the founder of the cryptocurrency project CluCoin, pleaded guilty to losing investor’s money to gambling. Taylor created the project under a company he incorporated in the U.S., as published by the United States Attorney’s Office.

The company, CLU LLC, was incorporated and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and managed CluCoin’s dealings. The crypto founder pled guilty to wire transferring $1,140,000 of CluCoin investor money to his personal account.

Using his social media account, Taylor created significant awareness and attracted a sizable number of people interested in his crypto project. He was said to have generated funds during the project’s initial coin offering (ICO).

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Taylor created a white paper for the project, promising to tailor it toward charity.

Not long after generating traction, Taylor launched the ICO in May 2021 and then diverted away from the crypto project, focusing on other ventures. He later started minting non-fungible tokens (NFTs), game development, and used metaverse platforms more.

While promoting his project, on April 4 and 5, 2022, he organized an event he dubbed “NFTCon: Into the Metaverse.”

Shortly after, he began making withdrawals from the cryptocurrency address. In the process, he made away with approximately $1.14 million in investor funds, using the money on various online casinos, where he lost it to gambling.

With his sentencing scheduled for October 31 at 10:00 A.M., before U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra, he faces a maximum a possible 20 years jail term for the wire fraud conviction, as published by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.