On April 21 hearing, Texas federal Judge Robert Pitman (1) ordered bench warrants for former Republican Washington senator David Schmidt and cohort Robert Dunlap after they failed to appear. The former senator failed to appear at the hearing despite the fact the proceedings were being convened over video conference because of coronavirus outbreak. The third defendant named in the Judge’s ruling Nicole Bowdler was not targeted in a bench warrant but was given one final opportunity to comply by April 24.
Meta 1 coin scam is allegedly backed by the former senator.
The arrest warrants issued by the Texas federal court are part of an ongoing case from the SEC regarding the Meta 1 coin. An alleged crypto scam backed by former Rep. Washington Senator Schmidt that promised investors the coins were backed with “$1 billion in fine art or $2 billion of gold holdings” without having any actual tokens. The US SEC froze the crypto assets last month and charged the firm’s operators with fraud. According to the SEC’s contempt motion, ex-Senator Schmidt and the other two defendants had already raised over $4.3 million from Meta 1 “investors” and were continuing to sell the tokens.
Dunlap launched the Meta 1 scam in April 2018.
The defendant, in this case, Dunlap had launched the Meta 1 token with Bowdler back in April 2018. Bowdler is considered to have played a lesser role in the scheme, which may explain why the Judge did not issue an arrest warrant for her like Schmidt and Dunlap on April 21 hearing. However, none of the defendants in the SEC case is a stranger to controversy. Schmidt, after losing a re-election in 2006, he faced investigation for misspending over $40,000 in campaign funds. He had to pay $10,000 in fine then. However, despite his involvement in illicit activities in the past, Schmidt wasn’t the origin of the purported Meta 1 coin scam. The court, in its ruling, stated,
“if incarcerated, Dunlap and Schmidt will be unable to continue Meta 1’s operations, create marketing videos, or email their putative investors.”
