Two 23-year-old individuals from California were arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly defrauding investors of over $22 million in cryptocurrency assets through an NFT scam and are currently facing fraud charges. The U.S. Department of Justice Public Affairs Office stated in a press release that Gabriel Hay and Gavin Mayo are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. It is alleged that the two sponsored and promoted NFT and digital asset projects and conducted promotional campaigns supporting those projects. The Department of Justice accused them of making or inducing others to make 'materially false and misleading statements' about the digital asset projects. Additionally, prosecutors alleged that Hay and Mayo provided misleading and false project roadmaps that included future plans for NFT and digital asset projects they had no intention of realizing. The indictment states that Hay and Mayo promoted the Vault of Gems NFT project, claiming it would be the first NFT project 'tied to hard assets.' Despite these promises, prosecutors alleged that the two abandoned these projects after raising millions of dollars from investors.

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