08/06/2024 U.S. Charges Three in Connection With Evolved Apes NFT Scam

d6a01931cfd89845491c0671510b0cec

The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New Yorkannounced todaythat it has charged three in connection with a non-fungible (NFT) token rugpull from 2021 known asEvolved Apes.

Mohamed-Amin Atcha, Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh, and Daood Hassan are charged with wire fraud and money laundering, according to a release from the SDNY's office.

Evolved Apes was a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs, which promised avideogame that never materialized, as the anonymous developer Evil Ape vanished a week after launch, siphoning 798 ether ($3 million at today's price, $2.7 million at the current time) from the project's funds.

"The defendants ran a scam to drive up the price of digital artwork through false promises about developing a videogame," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "They allegedly took investor funds, never developed the game, and pocketed the proceeds. Digital art may be new, but old rules still apply: making false promises for money is illegal."

In crypto parlance this type of maneuver is known as a rug pull, a type of exit scam in which developers raise funds from investors through the sale of tokens or NFTs, then abruptly shut down the project and disappear with the money.

According toDe.Fi's Rekt database, over $14.5 billion has been lost to rug pulls since 2011.

The largest rug pull so far has beenSouth African digital assets investment fund Africrypt which absconded with 69,000 bitcoins in 2021, worth nearly $4.8 billion.

Arts

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-charges-three-connection-evolved-210032711.html?_fsig=I6Os4qX4fFIpDPrHyoq_qg--%7EA

Interesting NFTs
The Machine of Real Madrid
Visual Toy honoring the greatness of the most awarded club in the world of football, Real Madrid. Including his top stars of all time including President Bernabeu, a myth in the club's management. This Visual Toy represents the club as a title machine with the Champions League as a great emblem, since it holds the leadership in victories in the maximum European competition. A magical and fantastic mechanism like the history of the club itself. Including the Bernabeu in its last year before the remodeling in 2020, this Visual Toy brings together all the essence and soul of the merengue team. https://javierarres.com
The Blockchain
Symbiotic crypto-currency relationships
Iconic Crypto Queen
(Virtual) blondes have more fun, right? #iconic ICONIC (Adj.): of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon. Widely recognized and well-established.
Genesis
José Delbo sent me his striking pencil sketch and powerful inked work, which I then interpreted in oil on canvas. I wanted to create a very painterly piece with obvious brush marks etc, but I was also aiming for a nostalgic feel, a kind of 1980’s superhero comic book look, the kind I grew up with. My goal with this animation was to try to recreate, in part, the creative process that both artists went through with the visual information I had. I was able to showcase my painting process more accurately as I could take photographs of my progress throughout. Consecutive images could then be layered like brush strokes over José’s drawing to create the impression that this was one continuous artwork from pencil, to ink, to completed painting. The representation of the line sketch at the beginning, then pencil/ink and lastly the paint layers being applied demonstrate both artists’ struggle for the right lines, tone, form, and colour until the work is finally completed. As the oil was still wet with each photograph the glare of my studio lights can be seen in the brush strokes. Eventually, the figure emerges and as it does, our hero comes to life, looking directly at the viewer -- but is he grimacing in approval or disgust? We will never know for sure as just before he can say anything, white paint is brushed across the canvas entirely and the process begins again. Only the bat is quick enough to escape.
Minoriea Bust Version 1 (Digital Version 2)
AURIEA HARVEY (B. 1971) Minoriea Bust Version 1 (Digital Version 2) HTML artwork with 3D model and augmented reality dimensions variable Executed in 2021. This work is number one from an edition of one plus one artist's proof and is accompanied by a non-fungible token. Please note this lot is the property of a private individual.