When the medium of influence and speculation flirts with the world of cinema, it can spark a few sparks. The comedians were eager to promote the crowdfunding of the animated movie Plush through the sale of NFTs. The project was led by one Fabien Tref, a cryptocurrency investor living in Dubai, as reveals the investigation of media part Posted on April 23.
In May 2022, Kev Adams, actress Camille Lellouche, rapper Gims, and influencer Anthony Alcaraz tapped into their social media audience to share this project. The initial idea is to participate in the financing of the animated film Plush by purchasing NFT teddy bears sold at 1,250 euros each. In total, 60 million euros would be needed to produce the film, explain those responsible for the project. The only condition: you have to reach 50,000 NFTs sold for the movie to be released.
A project that looks like crowdfunding since the buyers have been promised that they will appear in the credits, that they will be able to vote on the script of the film, but above all that they will recover up to 80% of the world profits from the box. office With the key to a promise made during a live video broadcast on Kev Adams’ official account: win “6 to 7 times” his bet, in just two years.
Except none of this happened, quite the opposite. According to Mediapart, about 770 investors lost the equivalent of around 1.5 million euros between May and June 2022, that is, practically all of their initial investment. One of them even assures the media that he only received a promotional shirt as a thank you, despite the fact that he bought two NFTs, the equivalent of 2,250 euros.
Businessman with opaque activities
Behind this very mysterious project, there is a company called Illuminart and above all a man, Fabien Tref, close to the middle of the influence of Dubai and controversial figures such as Marc Blata. The company, whose name closely resembles Universal Pictures’ subsidiary Illumination, is registered in Dubai. As Mediapart reminds us, the promises of profitability are based on figures linked to the performance of Illumination productions (among which me, ugly and badEITHER minions), which further adds to the confusion.
Fabien Tref’s profile also raises many questions. This 44-year-old businessman has never worked in the film industry, let alone in production. A friend of Kev Adams, he financed his birthday in July 2020 at a villa in Cannes. He was also the subject of a preliminary investigation in 2016 by the Toulon prosecutor’s office following a report on Tracfin, in charge of the fight against money laundering.
No further communication about the film has been made for nine months. On the official website, it is no longer possible to buy NFTs, and according to Mediapart, Illuminart has not renewed its business license, which expired in February. Doubts against this project had been expressed on Twitter as early as May 2022. by Red Flag account. For his part, Kev Adams, like the other personalities who mentioned the project, declines to comment.
Source: BFM TV
