Reported by Jesse Hamilton

HyperVerse was a nearly $2 billion fraudulent crypto investment scheme with a fake CEO at its helm, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a grand jury allege in a lawsuit and criminal indictments against two of its leaders.

The online investment business, which variously carried brands including HyperFund, HyperCapital and HyperTech, is said to have taken as much as $1.89 billion from people around the world who were drawn in by promises of quick riches. The business began around June 2020.

The SEC lawsuit alleges that Sam Lee, an Australian founder who lives in the United Arab Emirates, and Brenda “Bitcoin Beutee” Chunga, a promoter of the business from Maryland, cheated investors with this “pyramid and Ponzi scheme.” Chunga agreed to settle the SEC accusations, the agency said. 

“HyperFund even hired an actor to pretend to be the new CEO when HyperVerse was launched,” according to an SEC complaint filed Monday, detailing that the executive known as Steven Reece Lewis, who delivered a speech during the launch event, was a TV presenter who lives in Thailand.

Read full report: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/01/29/hyperverses-alleged-ponzi-scheme-raked-in-nearly-2b-hired-actor-as-fake-ceo/amp/