Hong Kong JPEX scandal: investors lured by flashy promotions, hard sell, gushing celebrities and talk of easy money
- The writing was on the wall for months before crackdown on company allegedly behind HK$1.43 billion fraud
- Little is known about cryptocurrency investment platform despite its high profile and army of influencers
Clerical officer Kitty*, 40, struggled to explain how she sank her life savings of HK$2 million (US$255,740) into a cryptocurrency deal she barely understood. Now she might lose it all.
Over merely a matter of weeks earlier this year, she found herself caught up in a whirl of hard-sell talk on cryptocurrency investments, tempted by the promise of making big money easily.
It was a heady period for someone earning about HK$30,000 a month, who had always only put her savings into fixed deposits.
She said her life changed in March, after she joined a social media group set up by well-known feng shui master and TV host Clement Chan Ting-bong. When he encouraged members to attend a free investment course by cryptocurrency education centre CryptoPARD, she went along.
The company, which touted itself as “Hong Kong’s first cryptocurrency academy”, was also an over-the-counter virtual asset money changer – or OTC shop – providing cryptocurrency trading without using an exchange.
In March, it posted a video on its Instagram page promoting JPEX, a prominent cryptocurrency platform that promised investors high returns.
JPEX had an army of celebrities, influencers and OTC shops to push its charm offensive, on top of splashing on advertisements in MTR stations, on buses, billboards and in the media.
