NFT
- The Squiggles NFT project has become the subject of a federal grand jury probe.
- The project’s founders are reportedly being investigated for wire fraud and money laundering.
- Squiggles came under fire early last year following an independent report which alleged that the project was a rug pull.
- The founders were allegedly behind several other NFT scam projects like League of Sacred Devils, Vault of Gems, Lucky Buddhas, etc.
The Squiggles NFT project is reportedly on the radar of the United States Federal Government. According to DB Newswire, the founders of the NFT project are being investigated by a federal grand jury for wire fraud and money laundering. The law enforcement action comes almost a year after the NFT community initially raised concerns about Squiggles.
Squiggles was previously accused of being a rug pull
Squiggles made headlines in February 2022 after an independent report by NFT Ethics accused the project of being a rug pull operated by a group of seasoned scammers. The 60-page report took the project’s community by storm, leading to uncertainty and fear amongst its NFT holders. The report accused Gavin Mayo, Gabriel Hay, and Ali Saghi, the project’s founders, of rug-pulling several NFT projects including League of Sacred Devils, Vault of Gems, Lucky Buddhas, Dirty Dogs, and Sinful Souls, among others.
The three founders were named in the court filing that revealed the grand jury investigation earlier today. As per the filing, Mayo, Hay, and Saghi are being investigated for possible violations of federal criminal law. They are also suspected of helping move and exchange crypto worth millions to hide it from authorities.
MAYO, HAY, SAGHI, and others are suspected of creating several non-fungible tokens (NFT) rug pull scams that have defrauded investors of millions of dollars in various cryptocurrencies.”
The Squiggles collection was removed from the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea shortly after the report by NFT Ethics went viral. The project subsequently moved to LooksRare, which currently shows that the collection’s total volume stands at 370 ETH. It has a floor price of 0.006 ETH, down 70% since August last year. Squiggles and Gavin Mayo did not respond to a request for comment.
