The United States Department of Justice has charged two men from California, Gabriel Hay of Beverly Hills and Gavin Mayo of Thousand Oaks, with a major NFT fraud that scammed buyers out of more than 22 million dollars. The defendants were arrested in Los Angeles last Thursday.

This case is described as the largest prosecution for NFT fraud in the department's history. From May 2021 to May 2024, Hay, also known by aliases such as 'Mr. Handz', 'Diamondhandz', 'Centurion', and 'Vaultkeeper', along with Mayo, known as 'Gavinm', promoted NFT projects using false statements and misleading project roadmaps. They are accused of luring victims through NFT projects minted on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. These projects include Vault of Gems, Faceless, Sinful Souls, Clout Coin, Dirty Dogs, Uncovered, MoonPortal, Squiggles, and Roost Coin.