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Hong Kong Investment Guru Lures Investors into HK$6.9 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme

Last Updated March 4, 2021 3:07 PM
Jimmy Aki
Last Updated March 4, 2021 3:07 PM

Hong Kong-based stock market commentator Raymond Yuen has been indicted for misleading web users into investing into a Crypto Mining Ponzi Scheme.

Based on reports on local Hong Kong media outlet The Standard, investors had narrated to the Democratic party how Yuen swindled them of HK$6.9 million in funds for a Ponzi scheme.

According to the reports, Yuen had promised juicy profits to investors who invested in the crypto mining services, he was promoting. Yuen also lured investors into signing agreements, where he recommended a 10-month payback offer, according to the report.

Sham Shui Po district councilor and deputy spokesman for the party’s financial policy panel, Ramon Yuen Hoi-man said Yuen promised them they could get their money back after the 10-months period and make profits afterward. They, however, started getting concerned about their investments as the return being sent to them was reduced on a monthly basis.

While the media outlet remains unclear if some investors had taken out a loan or not, one of the complainants, Chan, according to the Standard, had borrowed HK$200,000, which she used to invest into the mining services for a little yield of HK$7 per day.

Investors who filed the complaint complained about the lack of transparency regarding the contract and the share of profit, which they claim was far less than they expected. They also accuse Yuen of failing to disclose the risks involved in cryptocurrency mining and making false claims about the affiliation of the company with the founder of the cryptocurrency being mined, which he claimed could change the “algorithm to outperform its competitors.”

Shum Wan-wa, a lawyer and a member of the Wong Tai Sin District Council, said the contract signed by the investors was a trap, as it included a waiver to their right to file a class action suit against the company.

Known as “The Young Wizard of Investment”, Yuen, who had shot to prominence in the early 2000s for his analysis of the stock market, had lured investors in with his status as a financial expert, who had built his status through two radio shows on financial investments and authored a book on stock investments.

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