He was selling NFTs - theoretically tamper-proof digital certificates of authenticity - promising his customers "numerous benefits and rewards".
Aurélien Michel, a 24-year-old Frenchman, was arrested at a New York airport on suspicion of fraud.
According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, Aurélien Michel allegedly sold these NFTs and then withdrew the buyers' funds from the company's cryptocurrency wallets, "lining his pockets with nearly $3 million of money belonging to investors".
The young man was about to travel to the United Arab Emirates where he resides, when he was intercepted by American authorities at JFK airport in New York.
He had to be brought before a judge.
Aurélien Michel admitted to embezzling funds during an exchange with buyers on social networks transcribed in the press release from the United States Department of Justice, but rejected the responsibility for his actions on the community of NFT buyers, assuring that she “had become far too toxic.”
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