The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a grand jury have allegedly labeled Hyperverse a crypto scam program.
According to allegations leveled in the lawsuit and criminal indictments, HyperVerse was involved in a $2 billion fraudulent crypto investment scheme.
The online investment business carried out the malicious act through the influence of a fake chief executive officer (CEO).
HyperVerse laid out a strategy for the fraud scheme with other brand names like HyperFund, HyperCapital, and HyperTech as part of this alleged large scale crypto scam.
At least two individuals, one of whom was an actor, were portrayed as being in charge of the program, thereby gaining the trust of the public.
According to the lawsuit on Jan. 29, Xue Lee (aka Sam Lee) and Brenda "Bitcoin Beautee" Chunga were the people who promoted different investment packages that promised high returns with low risk for investors.
However, the investors were left stranded with no ROI as the team used the funds to purchase exotic cars and fund personal cryptocurrency wallets.
While acknowledging Chunga's agreement to settle SEC charges and pay civil penalties to be determined later by the court, both she and Lee are additionally confronted with charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland. Chunga has already pleaded guilty to these criminal charges. Promoter Rodney Burton is also facing charges from prosecutors.
The SEC asserts that Lee informed recruiters about HyperTech's purported plan to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by 2022.
Furthermore, the securities regulator alleges that the duo, Lee and Chunga, disseminated fake screenshots of various media appearances on CNN and an Amazon Prime documentary titled "Next: Blockchain" to enhance the company's reputation.
The firm's marketing efforts even went as far as hiring a Thai actor to promote the launch of HyperVerse, with the fake actor portraying its CEO," "In reality, the person presented as [Steven Reece] Lewis was an actor playing the role of a fabricated character. He was not the CEO of HyperVerse," the SEC revealed.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gave a breakdown of how the funds were shared. Chunga bagged about $3.7 million for personal use to purchase a BMW and designer clothes, a $1.2 million home in Maryland, and a $1.1 million condo in Dubai. Lee accumulated up to $140,000 worth of crypto.
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