A North Carolina man faces federal charges after allegedly faking a multi-billion dollar investment to secure shares in Napster's parent company.
Charles Cole has been indicted in New York for allegedly faking $3 billion in investments into Infinite Reality, the entity that acquired Napster last year. Prosecutors claim Cole forged bank records to illicitly obtain 239 million shares between 2024 and 2026.
The Department of Justice alleges Cole used these shares as collateral for loans, propping up the scheme with a fake website that mirrored a real foreign bank. This 'digital double' allowed him to present fabricated account balances to company stakeholders.
The ruse reportedly unraveled when promised payments failed to materialize. The indictment details how Cole and a co-conspirator used offshore servers to maintain the deception until Infinite Reality eventually rescinded the shares.
Cole now faces charges of wire fraud and securities fraud. If convicted, the wire fraud counts alone carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.