Robert Dunlap, a Houston man, was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison after prosecutors said he ran the Meta-1 Coin scam by falsely claiming the token was backed by $44 billion in gold and up to $1 billion in art. Authorities said nearly 1,000 investors lost more than $20 million in the scheme
A Houston man has received a 23-year federal prison sentence after authorities said he ran a long-running cryptocurrency fraud tied to a fake asset-backed token. Prosecutors said the scheme, built around Meta-1 Coin, caused nearly 1,000 investors to lose more than $20 million between 2018 and 2023. The case centered on false claims that the token was backed by billions of dollars in gold and a large collection of fine art.
Meta-1 Coin pitch relied on false asset claims
Robert Dunlap, 55, of Houston, promoted Meta-1 Coin as a secure digital asset backed by valuable reserves. Prosecutors said he told investors the token was supported by as much as $1 billion in art and about $44 billion in gold. He also claimed that an accounting firm had audited the gold and confirmed its value.
Authorities said those claims were false. Court records said Dunlap did not own the gold or art he used to market the token. Prosecutors also said he created bogus legal documents to hide that fact and to make the operation appear legitimate to investors.
The purported art collection included works said to be linked to Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and other well-known artists. Prosecutors said Dunlap used those claims to build trust and persuade buyers that the token had real-world backing.
Federal case ended with conviction and prison sentence
A federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois convicted Dunlap in November 2025 on two counts of mail fraud. This week, U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt sentenced him to 23 years in federal prison. The court also ordered him to pay restitution to victims.
The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros, the FBI’s Chicago Field Office, and IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also assisted in the case.
In the government’s sentencing memorandum, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Paige Nutini wrote, “Defendant lied to investors for years telling them that he had created a safe investment for them.” They added, “Over the years, defendant was unrepentant and his lies became bigger.”
The prosecutors also said, “Would-be criminals planning to engage in similar conduct need to know that such actions will be met with a serious repercussion that includes loss of one’s liberty for an extended period of time.” The court’s sentence followed that argument after the jury found Dunlap guilty last year.
Investors lost millions over five-year scheme
Prosecutors said Dunlap ran the scheme from 2018 to 2023 through a business tied to “Meta-1 Coin” and a “Meta-1 Coin Trust.” During that period, nearly 1,000 investors lost more than $20 million. Authorities said many victims lost all of their savings after putting money into the project.
IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge Adam Jobes said the damage went beyond financial loss. He said, “Robert Dunlap didn’t just take money—he took years of hard work, trust, and financial security from his victims.” He also said: “He used lies and deception to pull in millions, leaving some investors with nothing.”
Jobes added: “Crimes like this don’t just hit bank accounts—they upend lives.” He said the 23-year prison term “reflects the depth of that harm” and sends a warning to people who use fraud for personal gain. The sentence closes one of the more prominent crypto fraud cases tied to false claims of gold- and art-backed reserves.
