US Charges Australian Man for $90 Million Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Scam
- Stefan He Qin stole millions of dollars through Virgil Sigma Fund and VQR Multistrategy Fund.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged an Australian national with securities fraud. Stefan He Qin was the founder of two cryptocurrency hedge funds named Virgil Sigma Fund and VQR Multistrategy Fund. Qin stole nearly $90 million through his flagship crypto hedge fund.
According to the official statement released by the United States Department of Justice, Qin defrauded investors through Virgil Sigma Fund for years, and in December 2020, he attempted to steal money from his VQR Multistrategy Fund to pay the Virgil Sigma Fund investors.
Qin pled guilty on 4 February 2021 before United States District Judge, Valerie Caproni. The 24-year-old Australian lied to investors between 2017 and 2020 about the performance of the cryptocurrency hedge funds. Qin spent most of the stolen funds on luxuries and speculative personal investments.
“Stefan He Qin drained almost all of the assets from the $90 million cryptocurrency fund he owned, stealing investors’ money, spending it on indulgences and speculative personal investments, and lying to investors about the performance of the fund, and what he had done with their money. Then, as he further admitted today, Qin attempted to steal money from another fund he controlled to meet the redemption demands of the defrauded investors in the former fund. The whole house of cards has been revealed, and Qin now awaits sentencing for his brazen thievery,” Audrey Strauss, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Cryptocurrency Scams
The crypto market has seen significant growth in recent years due to a rise in adoption and demand from institutional investors. Additionally, scammers have accelerated their efforts in recent years to target cryptocurrency investors. In this case, Qin established the cryptocurrency hedge funds like a 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 funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. 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 funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. Read this Term to defraud investors.
“Qin mastered the art of trickery by representing these firms as profitable investment strategies so more victims fell to his tactics and were defrauded of nearly $100 million. The HSI New York El Dorado Task Force, with our incredible law enforcement partnerships, is committed to aggressively pursue fraud in all forms, regardless of how elaborate and profitable these schemes appear,” HSI Special Agent in Charge, Peter C. Fitzhugh said in the official release.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged an Australian national with securities fraud. Stefan He Qin was the founder of two cryptocurrency hedge funds named Virgil Sigma Fund and VQR Multistrategy Fund. Qin stole nearly $90 million through his flagship crypto hedge fund.
According to the official statement released by the United States Department of Justice, Qin defrauded investors through Virgil Sigma Fund for years, and in December 2020, he attempted to steal money from his VQR Multistrategy Fund to pay the Virgil Sigma Fund investors.
Qin pled guilty on 4 February 2021 before United States District Judge, Valerie Caproni. The 24-year-old Australian lied to investors between 2017 and 2020 about the performance of the cryptocurrency hedge funds. Qin spent most of the stolen funds on luxuries and speculative personal investments.
“Stefan He Qin drained almost all of the assets from the $90 million cryptocurrency fund he owned, stealing investors’ money, spending it on indulgences and speculative personal investments, and lying to investors about the performance of the fund, and what he had done with their money. Then, as he further admitted today, Qin attempted to steal money from another fund he controlled to meet the redemption demands of the defrauded investors in the former fund. The whole house of cards has been revealed, and Qin now awaits sentencing for his brazen thievery,” Audrey Strauss, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Cryptocurrency Scams
The crypto market has seen significant growth in recent years due to a rise in adoption and demand from institutional investors. Additionally, scammers have accelerated their efforts in recent years to target cryptocurrency investors. In this case, Qin established the cryptocurrency hedge funds like a 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 funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. 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 funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. Read this Term to defraud investors.
“Qin mastered the art of trickery by representing these firms as profitable investment strategies so more victims fell to his tactics and were defrauded of nearly $100 million. The HSI New York El Dorado Task Force, with our incredible law enforcement partnerships, is committed to aggressively pursue fraud in all forms, regardless of how elaborate and profitable these schemes appear,” HSI Special Agent in Charge, Peter C. Fitzhugh said in the official release.