Home » News » It Wasn't a Bitcoin Millionaire Who Gave $12M in Cash Away in Hong Kong
It Wasn't a Bitcoin Millionaire Who Gave $12M in Cash Away in Hong Kong
in Bitcoin Crime, News
On Sunday, major mainstream media outlets reported that a crypto millionaire sprayed more than $12 million worth of cash in one of Hong Kong's poorer neighborhoods.
Speaking to CCN, Leonhard Weese, the president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, confirmed that Wong Ching Kit, a 24-year-old man who was arrested almost immediately after causing a frenzy in a busy Hong Kong city, is not a Bitcoin millionaire and that the individual built wealth by operating a well-known ponzi scheme in the region.
"He's not a Bitcoin Millionaire. He is running a pyramid-like scheme well known in the community. Disappointed this is getting so much uncritical attention," Weese said.
See the video of the cash giveaway on Facebook.
Bad Look For Bitcoin and Crypto
According to past reports from local publications, Wong has been allegedly operating a large pyramid scheme guaranteeing a return of more than four-fold of initial return. He was also arrested and proven guilty of stealing mobile phones in 2012, when he was working as a swimming instructor at Kowloon Park in Hong Kong.
In 2017, local publications linked Wong to the so-called "London gold trading scams" that encouraged female brokers to intentionally approach individuals to invest a chunk of capital in gold and ran away with the capital.
In July of last year, Hong Kong's Commercial Crime Bureau chief inspector Marina Yin Hiu-yu said:
"The girls claimed to be successful investment consultants. They also displayed a posh lifestyle on social media by showing off deluxe cars and watches. Some victims hadn't even met the so-called financial stars before they agreed to open accounts, signed documents to authorise brokers to trade on their behalf and passed the account password to the girls."
At the time, many investors suspected Wong to be involved in the London gold trading scams among other pyramid schemes in the area.
Recently, Wong has been promoting a cryptocurrency mining computer that costs more than $3,000, a price that is substantially higher than all of the products in the global mining sector.
South China Morning Post reported:
"The young man has given media interviews under various monikers, promoting investment products, including a HK$27,500 computer he claimed could be used for cryptocurrency mining. Company search reports showed Wong owns a company called Coin's Group. The firm was initially called Oscar Holding Group in 2017 but the name was changed on July 3 this year."
However, most of the funds Wong has obtained over the years are suspected to have come from various scams he allegedly participated in.
Not Related to Bitcoin in Any Way
Based on previous scandals involving Wong that have been extensively covered by local publications throughout the past five years, it is evident that the funds he distributed on December 16, which some reports claimed were worth around $300,000, not $12 million, were not generated by his investments in Bitcoin nor his business in the cryptocurrency sector.
As Leonhard Weese said:
"Hong Kong media has covered his scams much more in-depth in the past. Why suddenly the goldfish memory?"
Tags: Bitcoinhong kong
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Joseph Young
Hong Kong-Based Finance and Cryptocurrency Analyst. Contributing regularly to CCN and Hacked. Providing unique insights into the crypto and fintech space since 2012.
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