US Court Hands 23-Year Sentence in $20M Meta-1 Crypto Scam.
Robert Dunlap has been sentenced to 23 years in prison by District Judge LaShonda Hunt, according to the Illinois US Attorney’s Office. Specifically, he was convicted on two counts of mail fraud linked to the Meta-1 Coin scheme.
Prosecutors said the operation ran from 2018 to 2023 and defrauded nearly 1,000 investors of approximately $20 million. Dunlap and associates promoted the token through a trust structure designed to attract investor funds.
To build legitimacy, the scheme allegedly promoted false claims of asset backing. These included a supposed $1 billion art portfolio featuring works by Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. It also claimed $44 billion in gold reserves.
Authorities added that Dunlap and his alleged associates used automated trading bots to manipulate the trading volume and price of Meta-1 Coin on a proprietary exchange he developed, known as the Meta Exchange.
