A project that promised to build a decentralised NFT marketplace has instead ended with federal fraud charges, after prosecutors accused its founder of diverting more than $10 million in investor money to fund gambling, risky cryptocurrency trades and personal spending.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged Taj Tarsha, the 34-year-old founder of NFT startup Few and Far, with securities fraud and wire fraud.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if he is convicted.
According to the indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Tarsha began raising money in February 2022 through Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs).
The agreements allowed investors to pay upfront for FAR tokens that would be delivered once Few and Far's planned decentralised NFT marketplace became operational.
Prosecutors allege that Tarsha sold 95 million FAR tokens to at least 67 investors, raising more than $10 million.
The money was presented as funding to develop both the NFT marketplace and its associated token.
Few and Far itself had also secured around $10.5 million in a funding round led by Pantera Capital.
The company was founded by Tarsha alongside Chris Gale and Chris Hayes and was built on the NEAR Protocol.
Instead of using the money to build the platform, prosecutors allege Tarsha redirected millions of dollars for his own benefit.
The indictment says investor funds were used to gamble at an online casino, make speculative cryptocurrency trades, finance unrelated business ventures and secure a loan linked to a luxury condominium in Miami.
The money also allegedly paid for interior design work and supported Tarsha's DJ hobby.
Prosecutors further allege that Tarsha secretly awarded himself nearly $1 million through undisclosed bonuses, in addition to collecting a salary that he privately admitted was excessive because the company had no product and, in his own words, had "zero revenue."
The indictment also alleges that Tarsha admitted to his then-fiancée that taking company assets was "unethical."
Questions over the company's finances surfaced in June 2023 after an internal audit found that part of the investor money had disappeared.
According to prosecutors, Tarsha reassured investors by claiming the bonuses were tied to predetermined FAR token presale targets and insisted that every remaining dollar was still needed to complete the project.
However, prosecutors say the reality was very different.
By that stage, Tarsha had already dismissed nearly all employees, leaving only one contractor to carry out work that allegedly created the appearance that development was still progressing.
After colleagues discovered the missing funds, Tarsha was removed from Few and Far's multi-signature wallet.
Prosecutors also allege that he later paid one of the co-founders and the company's operations director substantial company funds in an attempt to regain control of the wallet, while also contacting investors directly as part of that effort.
Although the FAR token was eventually launched in May 2024, prosecutors say it quickly became effectively worthless and stopped trading soon afterwards.
According to reports cited in the case, the token lost more than 99% of its value from its launch price.
The promised decentralised NFT marketplace itself was never launched.
The indictment also describes Tarsha's private comments about the NFT industry, alleging he referred to it as a "bubble", "the last [company] I have in me", "the last juice I have to squeeze", and a "magic ticket to a 10-30M exit."
Tarsha was arrested on 6 June 2026 before being released on a $500,000 personal recognisance bond four days later.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in the Southern District of New York, where prosecutors will pursue securities fraud and wire fraud charges carrying potential prison terms of up to 20 years each.
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