Founders of Turkey’s 'National Cryptocurrency' Arrested For Ponzi Scheme

Cryptocurrency fraud cases continue to pop up, and this time, it’s Turkey’s turn. Istanbul cops have arrested two individuals, Sadum Kaya and Muhammed Satıroğlu, who had allegedly involved in a crypto-related Ponzi Scheme Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and Read this Term, cheating over 10,000 victims.

According to local news outlets, the duo reportedly founded an Istanbul-based company called Hipper that presented a new cryptocurrency called Turcoin, which was promoted and self-described as Turkey’s national digital currency.

The altcoin began functioning in October 2017, and its operators are supposed to have duped investors of TRY 100 million ($22.0 million).

As with all Ponzi schemes, their basic idea was to kick-start a multilevel marketing scheme involving Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term. The people were given monthly payouts and additional income for referring the virtual coin to more customers, only to be cheated later.

The apparently fraudulent scheme was discovered after the company stopped paying bonuses and its customer support center stopped answering calls in early June. The founders reportedly disappeared with millions of dollars, but the two were detained on June 19.

Jaw-dropping offers

Satıroğlu and Kaya ran a multi-level marketing scheme to lure in potential investors into their fraudulent scheme. Also, they granted luxury cars to first investors and threw lavish parties attended by a number of Turkish celebrities to gain the confidence of early adopters.

Hipper also advertised several jaw-dropping offers for dummies, such as a TRY 250 ($54) monthly return on each investment equals to 1,500 Lira. The promotions also included referral income for early investors with higher commissions for bringing in additional people.

Muhammed Satıroğlu, who owned 49 percent of Hipper, claims that he “was only a mediator,” and that Hipper “does not even have a single dollar in the bank. All the money went to Sadun Kaya’s company in Cyprus.”

Sadun Kaya, the other partner that holds a 51 percent stake in Hipper, told the Turkish news outlet Hürriyet that he has not “fled with the money,” and that he “will return all the money to the members if authorities unblock my bank accounts.”

“Actually they (government) are the ones who are involved in serious corruption,” Satıroğlu added.