Those detained are between 51 and 64 years old, among them five women and one man. Hong Kong police received 225 complaints about Fun Coffee from people aged 32 to 83.
Representatives of Fun Coffee claim to be researching high-tech coffee equipment and studying ways to improve the genes of coffee plants. They persuade investors to deposit cryptocurrency, offering an annual yield of 278%. Users who invest 29,800 stablecoins $USDT (about 230,000 Hong Kong dollars) for 570 days are promised a profit of 129,093 $USDT (about 1 million Hong Kong dollars).
Police explained how Fun Coffee's organizers held investor seminars and similar events, encouraging people to bring friends and relatives into the scheme in exchange for rewards. Potential depositors were asked to download a mobile app and register, then transfer cryptocurrency to addresses provided by the platform's staff, explained as necessary for purchasing "investment packages."
The firm entered the Hong Kong market late last year and built an image as a socially responsible company, launching advertising campaigns about sports and healthy lifestyles. In July, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) added Fun Coffee to its list of suspicious investment projects, and Vietnamese authorities stated that Fun Coffee might be a financial pyramid scheme. However, the project continues to aggressively expand its presence in mainland China, Korea, and Singapore, police lament.
Last year, Hong Kong, this special administrative region of China, introduced criminal liability for promoting stablecoins without a regulator's license. Violators face heavy fines and up to six months in prison. In December, Hong Kong authorities proposed tightening control over custodial services and broker-dealers handling crypto assets.
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