Beverly Hills man charged in cryptocurrency scam

A six-count indictment was unsealed on Dec. 20 charging two men with perpetrating a scheme that defrauded investors of more than $22 million in cryptocurrency.

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Gabriel Hay, 23, of Beverly Hills, and Gavin Mayo, 23, of Thousand Oaks, are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of stalking. Authorities said Hay and Mayo defrauded investors through a series of digital asset project “rugpulls,” a type of fraud scheme in which the creator of a nonfungible token, or NFT, or other digital asset project solicits funds from investors and then abruptly abandons the project.

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“Whenever a new investment trend occurs, scammers are sure to follow,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said. “My office and our law enforcement partners will continue our efforts to protect consumers and punish wrongdoers involved in crypto fraud.”

“Gabriel Hay and Gavin Mayo allegedly defrauded investors in digital asset projects of tens of millions of dollars and threatened an individual who attempted to expose their roles in these fraudulent schemes,” said principal deputy attorney general Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Fraudsters take advantage of new technologies and financial products to steal investors’ hard-earned money. The department is committed to protecting investors and will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to root out fraud involving cryptocurrency and other digital assets and bring offenders to justice.”

From May 2021 to May 2024, Hay and Mayo sponsored several NFT and other digital asset projects. Hay and Mayo allegedly made false statements regarding the projects, and provided false and misleading “roadmaps” detailing plans for the NFTs after their launch that they never intended to fulfill, according to court documents. For example, the indictment alleges that in promoting the Vault of Gems NFT project, Hay and Mayo falsely claimed that the project would be the “first NFT project to be pegged to a hard asset.” However, instead of pursuing the Vault of Gems project or others as they had represented, Hay and Mayo allegedly abandoned the projects after collecting millions in funds from investors.

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Hay, Mayo and others allegedly used the tactics with other digital asset projects, including Vault of Gems, Faceless, Sinful Souls, Clout Coin, Dirty Dogs, Uncovered, MoonPortal, Squiggles and Roost Coin. Hay and Mayo also allegedly used a variety of means to conceal their involvement in the fraudulent projects. When a project manager on the Faceless NFT project exposed the defendants’ involvement, Hay and Mayo allegedly embarked on a harassment campaign, sending intimidating messages to the project manager and his parents, authorities said.

“Using NFTs to commit fraud not only exploits emerging technology but also erodes trust in the broader digital ecosystem,” Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy said. “The alleged actions of Hay and Mayo, who defrauded investors out of millions over several years, highlight the profound harm these schemes cause. These crimes may not involve violence, but they leave countless victims in their wake.”

The defendants each face a maximum of 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy and wire fraud counts, and a maximum of five years on the stalking count.