Timeline
Crypto projects, Ernie's actions, market crashes, and the harassment campaign.
2020–2021
Apr 2020Debunked
CSAM arrest alleged — FABRICATED. A forged DOJ press release was circulated in Telegram claiming Ernest Fontes was arrested for CSAM possession. PACER search confirms no such case exists — zero results for "Ernest Fontes" in the Western District of Texas, 2020–2021. The document is a forgery.
View fabricated document ↓
Oct 16, 2021Project
Zombie Inu ($ZINU) launches on Ethereum and BSC. Pseudonymous team including Ernie as "Ducky" (CMO), Dale Houk as developer, Brian Rudy as community ("Undead"), Corey Conrad as brand officer ("Scary"). Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) releases "Scary Monster" song for the project in November.
Ernie/@Zinu_CMO, Dale/zinudev, Brian Rudy/Undead, Corey Conrad/@scaryfromzinu
Oct–Nov 2021Audit
Two audits flag centralization risk. SourceHat (Oct 28): PASS, but warns team has unrenounced ownership, can set arbitrary fees, can extract all ETH via
ManualSwap/ManualSend. CertiK (Nov 30): 59/100 score, 1 Major finding (centralization), KYC NOT verified despite team claiming otherwise.Nov 10, 2021Market
Ethereum ATH (~$4,878) and Shiba Inu ATH ($0.0000886) — absolute peak of crypto bull market and meme coin mania. ZINU peaks shortly after.
2022 — Crypto Winter
May–Nov 2022Market
Three cascading crashes destroy the market. Terra/Luna collapse (May, ~$40B destroyed), Three Arrows Capital (June, cascading bankruptcies), FTX collapse (November, ~$200B lost). ETH drops from $4,878 to $1,069 (−78%). All small-cap meme tokens crushed.
Nov 7, 2022Project
ZINU V1 → V2 migration. 1,000,000:1 swap ratio, supply compressed from 1 quadrillion to 1 billion. Brief price spike, then continued decline.
2023 — ZINU Dies / Debts Begin
Feb 15, 2023Alleged Fraud
"Stalking Rug" — ZINU developer purchases 14.5 ETH of ZINU then dumps on community. Documented by @TrueWhaleFiles with on-chain data. This is the most specific verifiable fraud allegation.
@TrueWhaleFiles documented; ZINU developer executed
View evidence ↓
~Aug 2023Loan
Brian (@OnChainBrian) loans Ernie 3.2222 ETH for rent (~$5–6K at the time). Personal loan between community members. Brian is also listed as ZINU team member "Undead" (Brian Rudy).
Brian/@OnChainBrian → Ernie/@Zinu_CMO
Sep 4, 2023Doxxing
@kl910u publicly doxxes the entire ZINU team — first time real names are connected to pseudonyms. Ernest Fontes = Ducky, Brian Rudy = Undead, Dale Houk = zinudev, Corey Conrad = Scary. This is 2+ years before the @SPLITweb3 campaign.
@kl910u doxxes: Ernest Fontes, Brian Rudy, Dale Houk, Corey Conrad
View evidence ↓
Nov 1, 2023Loan
Brian asks Ernie for partial repayment — his cat is sick, needs vet money. Ernie: "I legit don't have a single card that works right now." No repayment made.
Brian/@OnChainBrian texts Ernie
View evidence ↓
Dec 21, 2023Project
MainNetZ ($NETZ) listed on LBank. The second project in the chain — a Layer 1 blockchain that ZINU investors are told to migrate to.
Same team as ZINU; Todor Ivanov/@tmivanov involved
2024 — Nonpayment / New Presales
Feb 16, 2024Project
NETZ ATH ($0.16). Now down 97%.
Apr 1, 2024Loan
Brian confronts Ernie again: "It's been 8 months." Only 0.4 of 3.2222 ETH repaid. Ernie: "Working my ass off to get you paid back man." Claims he hasn't sold any tokens and has no income outside the projects. Later sends Brian a mocking sticker.
Brian/@OnChainBrian, Ernie/@Zinu_CMO
View evidence ↓
Jul 2024Campaign
@SPLITweb3 account created. Joined July 2024. Will not post first attack until December 2025. Currently 5,400+ posts.
Sep 24–25, 2024Alleged Fraud
$MINE private sale: $5,000 per slot for 0.5% of supply. Promoted by Austin Hilton (235K YouTube subs, history of promoting questionable projects). Hilton allegedly lied about investing $5K himself. Project has zero public footprint — not listed on any exchange or tracker.
Ernie, Austin Hilton/@austinhilton
View evidence ↓
2025 — Splendor / Campaign Begins
May 2025Precedent
SafeMoon CEO convicted — 100 months in prison for siphoning "locked" liquidity pools for personal use ($2.2M home, $277K Audi). Nearly identical pattern to ZINU/Splendor: rescue/drain functions in smart contracts.
Oct 24, 2025Project
Splendor ($SPLD) listed on LBank. Third project in the chain. "AI-powered, quantum-resistant" blockchain. Claims $50M seed round ($4.5M committed). CertiK rating: 3.6/10. Marketing erases all mention of ZINU and MainNetZ.
Todor Ivanov/@tmivanov (named founder), Ernie (unnamed role)
Late 2025Ernie's Words
Ernie in Telegram "Crypto Party" (as admin): "I get several hundred thousand released in August. Everyone will be made whole regardless." Tells investors to "stop with the slander" and says he's trying to get a MEXC account after LBank shutdown. Tells Steve: "I'd wait to load up on $NETZ."
Ernie (admin "Scammer Ernest Fontes"), Steve, KENJiLLA
View evidence ↓
Dec 22, 2025Smart Contract
Splendor validator contract code exposed. @SPLITweb3 posts ValidatorController.sol showing
rescueCoins() and emergencyTransfer() — owner can drain all staked user funds. No timelock, no multisig, no governance. Tags @Kenjilla618 and @tmivanov.View evidence ↓
Dec 16, 2025Campaign
@SPLITweb3 posts first attack: "Ernest Fontes AKA @Zinu_CMO has stolen $30,000+ from the $FRENZ community using a fake presale called 'StableMine'." Shows erniefontes1 profile photo. The organized campaign begins.
@SPLITweb3 names: Ernest Fontes, @Zinu_CMO
View evidence ↓
Dec 23, 2025Campaign
KENJiLLA pushes back in Telegram: Says he lost ~$100K but tells @SPLITweb3 "you know these guys are scammers right? The FBI is involved." Claims to know the team for years.
View evidence ↓
2026 — Escalation
Jan 3, 2026Campaign
@SPLITweb3 announces full offensive: FBI complaint, 18-page report, 3 hours voice recordings, full doxxing, fake presale proof, wallet tracking, tax evasion evidence, "a list of victims with the exact amounts he owes." Claims evidence for rug on $FRENZ, $NETZ, $ZINU.
@SPLITweb3 references: @Zinu_CMO, @DNPthree, @SplendorLabs
View evidence ↓
Jan 6, 2026Threat
"Beginning of the end" — @SPLITweb3 threatens Ernest and Lynsey Fontes directly. Escalation from evidence-posting to personal targeting.
@SPLITweb3 targets: Ernest Fontes, Lynsey Thiel Fontes
Jan 18–19, 2026Confrontation
"frenZ 4 liFe" confrontation — Danny threatens @cryptopartyguy (Ernie) in Telegram: "will be finding out what job you get next." $21K demanded. Ernie had promised repayment "when Splendor started trading" AND "by end of January" — both deadlines missed.
Danny, Ernie/@cryptopartyguy, @SPLITweb3
View evidence ↓
Jan 22–26, 2026Doxxing
Full doxxing blitz: Lynsey's employer (Deepak Chopra) contacted and @jayshetty tagged. Full address, phone (+15128268366), car finance records published. "Your whole family will be hunted down." Friends/family social media list published: @jimthiel, @along7, @chopra, etc. "Do what you wish with this information."
@SPLITweb3 targets: Lynsey Thiel Fontes, @jayshetty, @jimthiel, @along7, @chopra, @dlgary3000
Jan 26–27, 2026Evidence
@basedlegendman and @OnChainBrian publish Brian's text messages showing the full 3.2222 ETH loan thread, Ernie's repeated promises, and his mocking sticker.
@basedlegendman, Brian/@OnChainBrian, Ernie
View evidence ↓
Jan 29–30, 2026Campaign
@SPLITweb3 reveals 18-page report (blurred). Claims 10+ phone call recordings confirming identity and scam involvement. "After stealing $21,000 from me and my FRENZ... the courts that prosecute you are going to love this."
@SPLITweb3, @austinhilton (video evidence mentioned)
View evidence ↓
Jan 24, 2026Debunked
@SPLITweb3 posts fabricated CSAM allegation publicly: "Just been sent this. Turns out @Zinu_CMO is a convicted pedophile!" Shares screenshot of forged DOJ press release. PACER search confirms no such case exists. (View tweet)
Feb 2–5, 2026Fabricated content
Harassers post fabricated sexual and degrading content. @basedlegendman posts fake gay videos of Ernie ("Scammers are super gay!!") and a fake video pairing him with other men. @SPLITweb3 posts a fabricated sexual video targeting Lynsey ("This is what your wive would be doing if I didn't fund your family's life"). AI-manipulated BDSM family photos also circulated, placing Ernie and family members in fetish scenarios with crude text. All of this content is fabricated.
@SPLITweb3, @basedlegendman targeting: Ernie, Lynsey, family members
Feb 6, 2026Project
SPLD ATH (~$9.97). Now at $0.40 (down 96%). ZINU effectively dead. NETZ down 97%.
Feb 23, 2026Evidence
@basedlegendman posts the 19-minute phone call recording between Ernie and @SPLITweb3. Ernie admits he's "flat broke," confirms two Splendor validators, and names Todor and Ralph as directing him to "Nick" for OTC deals. @_FutureLegend and @TheFarrow reply confirming they were also scammed. (View tweet)
Mar 1, 2026Dark web threat
@SPLITweb3 escalates to dark web threats: "$ZINU $FRENZ $NETZ $MINE Have all been complete rugs and @Zinu_CMO still walks free. Maybe it's time to play dirty? Lots of opportunities to fucking destroy this guys life on the dark web. I think it's the only option from this point onwards." @splendorrelease replies: "Huge fucking scammer." (View tweet)
Jun 6, 2026Now
Screenshots captured. All three tokens near zero. Campaign ongoing for 6+ months. No known repayments to any claimant. @SPLITweb3 claims "100s of thousands proven stolen." At least 8-10 distinct individuals have surfaced claiming financial injury.