The United States indicts three people for Evolved Apes NFT fraud, involving $3 million

The Southern District of New York's prosecutor's office has charged Mohamed-Amin Atcha, Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh, and Daood Hassan with participating in the 2021 Evolved Apes NFT fraud. The project promised to develop a video game, but after the fundraising ended, the anonymous developer Evil Ape disappeared and transferred 798 ether (about $3 million). This case is considered part of the "rug pull" scam, in which developers raise funds by selling NFTs or tokens and then suddenly close the project and disappear. According to statistics, similar scams have caused more than $14.5 billion in losses since 2011.