Amaury Leveaux, a four-time Olympic medalist and former World Record holder in the 100 meter freestyle, has become embroiled in a cryptocurrency scandal that has left him accused of fraud, and simultaneously accusing a cryptocurrency company of the same.
According to Le Parisien, the scandal revolves around Spantale, a sponsorship platform that Leveaux created in 2021 designed to connect athletes and sponsors using a new cryptocurrency called AEL Token.
In August 2021, the family of a young equestrian athlete invested €100,000 ($116,000 by today’s exchange rate) to purchase 6 million AEL Tokens at a discounted rate. In early 2022, their online portfolio displayed a valuation of around €2.5 million ($2.9 million), but the athlete’s parents say that they were unable to withdraw any of those funds. Within months, the portfolio value had fallen dramatically, eventually falling to zero.
The initial €100,000 went to a German bank account tied to a French company called “Amaury Leveaux,” but that company was officially dissolved in December 2020 – before the investment was made.
On September 29, the investors filed a criminal complaint, accusing Leveaux of fraud, though the Paris prosecutor has not yet charged him with a crime.
The investors allege that the platform Spantale never actually existed and that the AEL Tokens “had no utility and therefore no value.” They also claim that they were misled by Leveaux, who they say promised them a full reimbursement if the token’s value dropped below a certain threshold.
The investors’ lawyers have called the scheme a “blatant scam,” and that they were “swindled.” The lawyer also says that the displayed portfolio value was meaningless.
Leveaux himself says that the platform was real, but that he was also the victim of a scam by the cryptocurrency company that handled the technical side of the project. He says that he did not control the mechanics of the token and that there were irregularities with the token. It was supposed to be locked and unsellable for a period, but according to Leveaux’s lawyer, “for unexplained reasons” the token was sold while still in its lock period.
That caused a liquidity crash and the price to fall.
Leveaux insists as evidence that he is not at fault that he didn’t get rich, he hasn’t disappeared, and that he is not hiding or fleeing from the situation. He is preparing his own criminal complaint against the crypto company that he partnered with.
Leveaux, 39, was one of the world’s top sprinters during the 2008/2009 polyurethane supersuit era. He won silver medals in the 50 free and 400 free relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, silver in the 800 free relay at the 2012 Olympic Games, and gold in the 400 free relay at the 2012 Olympic Games.
He was also a nine-time European Champion and a 2013 World Champion on the French 400 free relay. At the 2008 European Short Course Championships, he broke the World Record in the 100 free twice, finishing in 44.94 in the final. That record stood for more than a decade until Australian Kyle Chalmers broke it in 2021.
He also broke the record at that meet in the 50 free in short course meters, which stood until August 2009.
It’s always refreshing to read that some of our elite swimmers have talents outside of the pool!