Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced criminal charges against Michael Lauchlan for his involvement in a fake crypto asset recovery business.

Lauchlan, operating under the alias Max Handler, allegedly defrauded customers through the company Coin Dispute Network (CDN) by falsely claiming to recover lost crypto assets.

Lauchlan pretended to be CDN’s vice president and chief recovery officer. Clients paid in Ethereum to speak with a “recovery analyst.”

Lauchlan allegedly deceived clients by falsely claiming to know the location of their lost crypto and offering to recover it for an additional fee. Instead, he extracted users’ fees and Ethereum (ETH) without providing the promised services.

“This complaint alleges a cutting-edge approach to a crime as old as time,” said District Attorney Bragg. “By manipulating customers with false promises and pocketing a fee, Michael Lauchlan allegedly engaged in a scheme that defrauded dozens of people and stole from at least three New Yorkers.”

The charges against Lauchlan include three counts of grand larceny and two counts of scheme to defraud.

Crypto scam details

Between July 2022 and June 2023, CDN purportedly offered services such as blockchain analysis, tracing, and recovery of lost crypto assets. However, these claims were deceptive, and Lauchlan exploited customers’ lack of experience in the cryptocurrency industry to steal their funds.

In June 2023, the Manhattan DA’s office seized the CDN website, marking a significant action against a crypto recovery scam. Authorities arrested Lauchlan in Las Vegas on July 9, 2024.

The DA’s office has identified approximately $14,000 in user funds transferred to CoinEx by CDN and has spoken to over 175 affected individuals.