He was selling NFTs – theoretically tamper-proof digital certificates of authenticity – promising his customers “numerous benefits and rewards”. Aurélien Michel, a 24-year-old Frenchman, was arrested at a New York airport on suspicion of fraud. The man is a former footballer of the club En Avant Guingamp and son of professional footballer Coco Michel.
According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, the young Breton allegedly sold these NFTs and then withdrew the buyers’ funds from the wallets of cryptocurrencies of the company, “lining their pockets with nearly $3 million in investor money”. The young man was about to travel to the United Arab Emirates where he resides, when he was intercepted by American authorities at JFK airport in New York. He had to be brought before a judge.
Aurélien Michel admitted to having misappropriated funds during an exchange with buyers on social networks transcribed in the press release from the United States Department of Justice, but blamed its actions on the community of NFT buyers, assuring that it “has become far too toxic”.