Police charge 16 in JPEX crypto fraud case with 3 ringleaders on wanted list
發佈日期: 2025-11-05 20:08
TVB News
Police revealed today charges have been laid against 16 suspects in connection with the JPEX scandal -- a large-scale financial fraud case involving a cryptocurrency trading platform and some 2,700 victims.
Police have also issued red notices via the Interpol to track down three ringleaders still at large.
Two years after the cryptocurrency platform JPEX scandal came to light, one of those facing fresh charges is influencer Joseph Lam Chok.
The lawyer who represented him earlier -- spotted at the North Point Police Station.
Lam is among the 80 people rounded up in relation to the JPEX case.
This time, 16 of those were prosecuted, including six core members of the alleged fraud scheme and seven people linked to over-the-counter crypto-exchange branches.
Apart from Joseph Lam Chok, another online personality Chan Yee and two other influencers as well as the then-COO and General Manager of crypto exchange Coingaroo are facing charges.
Three are suspected stooge account holders.
The suspects face charges including conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and obstructing the course of justice.
For the first time, police are invoking the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance to prosecute the suspects who allegedly induced others to invest in virtual assets fraudulently or recklessly.
The maximum penalty is seven years in jail and a 1 million-dollar fine.
Interpol has issued red notices targeting three suspected core members who remain on the run.
The police note that JPEX is a very complex case with a large number of victims and significant amount of losses.
No company or individual has so far admitted to being the ringleader of JPEX.
And as the case involves large-scale crypto transfers and the emerging virtual asset market, police have been working with multidisciplinary experts and the Securities and Futures Commission to conduct the probes.
The scandal surfaced in September 2023, when the SFC flagged the JPEX platform for suspected fraud activities, noting that it was operating without a license while aggressively promoting its services.
Soon after, many investors reported being charged exorbitant withdrawal fees or having funds frozen or transferred without consent.
More than 2,700 victims have filed reports, involving losses exceeding 1.6 billion dollars.
