Berman Jerry Nowlin Jr.
Co-developer of the 'UndeadApes' and 'Undead Lady Apes' NFT collections
What the public record shows
Berman Jerry Nowlin Jr. — who used the online aliases “Repulse” and “Zayous” — was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. He faces a maximum of 5 years in federal prison. This is a criminal conviction — a jury verdict — not an allegation.
The scheme
According to the Department of Justice, Nowlin and co-defendant Devin Alan Rhoden minted two NFT collections on the Solana blockchain — “UndeadApes” and “Undead Lady Apes.” After defrauding investors who purchased the NFTs, they laundered the proceeds by moving funds through the Solana and Ethereum blockchains, using crypto’s pseudonymity to try to obscure where the money went.
Why blockchain money laundering is part of the same pattern
Crypto rug pulls frequently pair the initial fraud with cross-chain laundering — converting and moving funds between different blockchains (here, Solana to Ethereum) to break the trail a victim or investigator might follow. The technology that makes NFTs possible is the same technology fraudsters use to make the money harder to trace.
Why we rate this 1 / 10 — Avoid
A jury conviction for defrauding NFT purchasers and then actively laundering the proceeds — aggravating factors that show intent to permanently keep the stolen funds beyond recovery.
Red flags this case teaches
- Pseudonymous “developer” handles (like “Repulse” or “Zayous”) with no verifiable real-world identity are a significant NFT-fraud risk factor.
- Cross-chain fund movement immediately after a project’s funding round can be a sign proceeds are being laundered rather than deployed as promised.
- Treat any NFT project whose team can’t be independently verified as fully speculative, regardless of the artwork or hype.
Bottom line
Convicted by a jury. An anonymous NFT team plus rapid movement of raised funds across blockchains is a pattern investigators now recognize — and one retail buyers should too.
Sources
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