Disclaimer: this article has been updated to include comments from Vanbex. Canadian police have frozen assets of the founders of blockchain consulting firm Vanbex, which raised $22 million in an alleged fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). The development was reported in a court document released on March 14. According to the document, Vanbex founders Kevin Hobbs and Lisa Cheng claimed to the public that they operated a Vancouver-based cryptocurrency firm, starting from 2017. The firm, which was interchangeably called Vanbex and Etherparty, is actually a shell company that developed no useable products, the court document argues. The police have now …
Over 5,000 victims of the alleged cryptocurrency pyramid scheme Dunamiscoins have petitioned the Ugandan Parliament asking to refund money lost in the scam. Arthur Asiimwe, the leader of the petitioning group who presented the request to the Parliament's speaker Rebecca Kadaga, claims that the government has licensed the alleged scam firm, according to an official announcement by the Parliament of Uganda on Jan. 16. Dunamiscoins victims are not satisfied with investigation results First spotted in early December 2019, Dunamiscoins is allegedly involved in defrauding over 10,000 people, causing them losses of around $2.7 million. The apparent scam company reportedly closed …
The lawyers for Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, have filed a complaint alleging violation of Vinnik’s rights. Written on behalf of Vinnik’s young children, the complaint has been filed with a Greek court to prevent the allegedly approaching criminal’s extradition to France and the United States. Vinnik’s extradition from Greece was allegedly scheduled for last weekend Timofey Musatov, the head of Vinnik’s legal representation alleges that Vinnik’s extradition had been scheduled for last weekend, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Jan. 17. Musatov suggested that Vinnik’s extradition had been planned for this past weekend based …
Cryptocurrency project OneCoin is denying claims that it is a “hybrid ponzi-pyramid scheme” and scam, news outlet Samoa Observer reported on May 14. OneCoin is purportedly a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme project, that raised hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide by luring investors with the promise of big returns and minimal risk. An investigation by the United States found that the project’s founders had generated 3.353 billion euros ($3.769 billion) in sales revenue. In April, a church in the Pacific nation of Samoa became at the center of scrutiny after ministers had invited OneCoin to speak to its congregation. Notably, Samoa’s …
South African Police are pursuing an alleged major cryptocurrency investment fraud, according to a police statement released yesterday, May 25. According to the statement, over 28,000 investors are said to have suffered losses exceeding 1 bln rand ($80.4 mln). The Hawks, an investigative unit of South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), have outlined the case, which they say involves “BitCaw Trading Company, commonly known as BTC Global”: “[Targeted members of the public are believed to have been] encouraged by BTC Global agents to invest with promises of 2% interest per day, 14% per week and ultimately 50% per …