Share this article
BTC
$118,184.53
+
0.52%ETH
$3,809.94
+
1.40%XRP
$3.1087
-
0.46%USDT
$0.9999
-
0.00%BNB
$813.85
-
2.17%SOL
$181.06
-
2.57%USDC
$0.9999
-
0.00%DOGE
$0.2246
-
2.14%TRX
$0.3391
+
4.62%ADA
$0.7844
-
1.59%HYPE
$44.14
-
0.67%SUI
$3.7932
-
6.10%XLM
$0.4179
-
0.95%LINK
$17.86
-
2.33%HBAR
$0.2667
-
1.37%BCH
$566.41
-
2.20%AVAX
$24.57
-
5.20%WBT
$43.93
+
0.34%LTC
$108.39
-
1.02%LEO
$8.9666
+
0.01%Sign Up
- Back to menuCryptocurrencies
- Back to menuResearch
- Back to menu
- Back to menu
- Back to menu
- Back to menu
- Back to menuWebinars
CluCoin Founder Pleads Guilty to Stealing $1.1M of Investor Funds for Online Gambling
Austin Michael Taylor, 40, of Miami, Florida faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud.
The founder of Miami-based crypto project CluCoin has pleaded guilty to stealing over $1 million from investors and spending the money at online casinos.
According to court documents filed in a Florida court last week, CluCoin’s founder – 40-year-old Austin Michael Taylor of Maryland – admitted to regularly transferring funds earmarked for CluCoin-related projects to his own personal crypto wallets and then transferring them to online crypto casinos.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Taylor founded CluCoin in the spring of 2021, marketing the project to his “large Internet following” as a streamer as a way to fund charities. After CluCoin’s subsequent ICO that May, the project’s trading volume and value declined “precipitously,” according to court documents, prompting Taylor to steer CluCoin “away from its original charity focus.”
Over 2022, while he was managing CluCoin and making promises to investors about its activities – including the purported development of a metaverse-based video game called “Xenia” – his lawyers said, Taylor was “secretly succumbing to a gambling addiction.” In total, he transferred $1.14 million worth of investor funds to online casinos including Stake.com, his lawyers said.
In January 2023, Taylor publicly admitted to using investor funds for online gambling and voluntarily ceded control of the project to his business associates.
He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Aug. 15. As part of his plea agreement, Taylor agreed to forfeit $1.14 million in ill-gotten gains for victim restitution.
Taylor is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Becerra of the Southern District of Florida on Oct. 31 at 10:00 a.m. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Cheyenne Ligon
On the news team at CoinDesk, Cheyenne focuses on crypto regulation and crime. Cheyenne is originally from Houston, Texas. She studied political science at Tulane University in Louisiana. In December 2021, she graduated from CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she focused on business and economics reporting. She has no significant crypto holdings.
More For You
Crypto Industry Asks President Trump to Stop JPMorgan’s 'Punitive Tax' on Data Access
A coalition of fintech and crypto trade groups is urging the White House to defend open banking and stop JPMorgan from charging fees to access customer data.
What to know:
- Ten major fintech and crypto trade associations have urged President Trump to stop big banks from imposing fees that could hinder innovation and competition.
- JPMorgan's plan to charge for access to consumer banking data may debank millions and threaten the adoption of stablecoins and self-custody wallets.
- The CFPB's open banking rule, which mandates free consumer access to bank data, is under threat as banks have sued to block it, and the CFPB has requested its vacatur.
Top Stories
