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A Singaporean man has been convicted of promoting multi-billion dollar digital currency scam OneCoin. Fok Fook Seng was fined S$100,000 (US$72,000) on charges of misleading hundreds of investors into believing that they were investing in promotional tokens.
Seng was arrested in 2019, with the local authorities pressing charges against him in April 2020. The 52-year-old businessman allegedly used social media to promote the scam. On Facebook, he opened a page titled ‘OneLife One World Team Singapore’ which he used to promote OneCoin. He also attended local events to advertise the scam, authorities said.
Seng was charged under Singapore’s Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Prohibition) Act. The Act prescribes a maximum fine of $147,000, a prison sentence not exceeding five years, or both.
Seng conducted the marketing together with his partner, Lim Yoong Fok, who was also arrested. Together, the two managed to rack up over 1,000 signups, with the police stating:
“As at June 2017, there were 1,180 members in Singapore and other countries under his main account due to his own referral efforts and that of his team members.”
The scam sold educational packages to the investors for online courses. The packages also came with promotional tokens, which according to the two fraudsters, the investors could use to mine more OneCoins. As with other multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, a member stood to make more if they recruited new members.
The police warned the public, “If you choose to deal with unregulated entities or persons, you will forgo the protection available under MAS’ regulations.”
OneCoin is one of the largest scams ever in the digital currencies space. Its founder Ruja Ignatova is a fugitive whom authorities around the globe have been after for several months now. His brother, Konstantin Ignatov was arrested in 2019 and pleaded guilty to several charges, including money laundering and wire fraud and faces over 90 years in prison.
OneCoin’s lawyer and alleged money laundering specialist Mark Scott is currently fighting his charges.
Despite the arrest of one leader and the disappearance of the other, OneCoin seems to be alive in some countries. As CoinGeek reported, the scam is still operating in Japan, going as far as organizing ‘leadership meetings’. One of its top earners also reinvented the scam’s tricks under a new name – One Link.
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
