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.
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.