The founder of the Taiwan Blockchain Association is involved in a fraud case and the prosecutor formally sued
Liu Tingwei, founder and first chairman of the Taiwan Blockchain Association, was indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office on charges of aggravated fraud and violation of the Banking Act for allegedly conspiring with Chen Chengyang, head of the Fu Fu De Zheng Studio, to commit fraud.
The prosecution's investigation found that 30-year-old Liu Tingwei created the "MEKA coin" with the same name as a French company since 2021, and launched virtual currencies such as SBC coin and DTT coin, attracting investors to invest a total of 66.44 Ethereum coins, about NT$5.39 million, but in fact these "virtual currencies" are worthless.
Liu Tingwei founded the Taiwan Blockchain Association in August 2020 (the association's website is now closed) and served as its first chairman until June 2023. The prosecutor pointed out that he was suspected of instructing the then secretary-general, supervisor and others of the association who were unaware of the situation to contribute 1.1 and 1.09 ether respectively as the cost of the self-created MEKA coin, and then entrusted Chen Chengyang to promote it through uninformed salesmen.
Image source: Taiwan Blockchain Association (Crypto City) confirmed that the website of the Taiwan Blockchain Association has been shut down
The two lied that the company had cooperated with the French company MEKA to issue virtual assets, and claimed that it was related to the "Gundam NFT" MekaVerse, and that online games would be launched in the future, by which time the value of MEKA coins would increase by more than 100 times.
Image source: OpenSea 「Gundam NFT」MekaVerse
Later, Liu Tingwei held an investment briefing to promote SBC coins and DTT coins tied to online games such as "Sky Thieves" and "Desert Paradise 2". (CryptoCity) Editor-in-Chief Max also received promotional copy provided by the team, stating that the two games will be listed on major domestic and foreign exchanges in June 2022, but in the end, the subsequent schedule, game launch, online and offline gatherings, and various promised activities were not fulfilled.
Even from the promotional copy in January 2022, it can be seen that the ICO price of the two virtual currencies is 0.00001 ETH, and it is directly claimed that the price will continue to increase over time:
After March 1st, the price is 1 = 0.000012 ETH
After May 1st, the price is 1 = 0.0000156 ETH
They falsely claimed that after the game was launched, the value of the game currency would be raised by more than 50%, misleading investors into believing that the value of the tokens had room for growth and thus investing.
Image source: (CryptoCity) Editor-in-Chief Max Liu Tingwei’s promotional copy for SBC coins and DTT coins that are bound to online games such as “Sky Thieves” and “Desert Paradise 2”
The prosecution found that after Liu Tingwei and Chen Chengyang obtained the Ethereum, except for paying employee performance bonuses and game maintenance costs, the rest was transferred to Liu Tingwei's wallet hosted by an overseas exchange, and then converted into $USDT and transferred to the virtual wallet under the name of his wife.
Investors realized they were being scammed and reported the case. The money flow was traced and the money laundering method was exposed.
The investors later discovered that the French company MEKA had not released any games at all, and no exchange was willing to trade MEKA coins. The two online games also did not continue to operate, and the prices of SBC coins and DTT coins plummeted to become worthless. Only then did they realize they had been cheated and reported the case to the police.
The prosecution traced the flow of funds and found that Liu Tingwei and Chen Chengyang laundered the fraudulently obtained Ethereum through a complex conversion program. The Ethereum was first transferred to several non-custodial wallets of Liu Tingwei, then transferred to custodial wallets of overseas exchanges, converted into Tether, and finally transferred to the virtual wallet under the name of Liu's wife, part of which was exchanged for New Taiwan dollars.
Ironically, when Liu Tingwei founded the Taiwan Blockchain Association, he announced that he hoped the general public would have a better understanding of blockchain expertise and that he hoped to reduce cryptocurrency fraud incidents through education. Unexpectedly, he became the main suspect in a fraud case.
Image source: Blockchain Bar The Taiwan Blockchain Association held its founding conference at the Taipei International Convention Center on April 29, 2022, with BuckChaf CEO Liu Tingwei (third from right) serving as the first chairman.
After the investigation was concluded, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office determined that Liu Tingwei and Chen Chengyang were involved in aggravated fraud under the Criminal Law, illegal operation of quasi-deposit acceptance business under the Banking Law, and money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Law, and prosecuted them for violating the Banking Law. As for Liu's wife, the Blockchain Association cadres, and Fu Fu De Zheng employees, they were not prosecuted because they were unaware of the case.
Education fraud case comes to light, self-help association files lawsuit for compensation
In addition to the virtual currency fraud case, the CBA Asia Blockchain Academy founded by Liu Tingwei also broke out in the controversy of educational fraud. In October last year, a number of course students formed a self-help group and filed a fraud lawsuit at the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office, accusing Liu Tingwei of promising students that they would have the opportunity to join the company as analysts with high salaries after purchasing the analyst course, and claiming that the analysts in the company had a base salary of NT$60,000 and high bonuses.
The representative of the self-help association said that after more than 50 students spent 100,000 to 300,000 yuan on tuition fees, they found that the analyst course provided by Liu Tingwei was superficial and not as professional as they imagined. What was even more unsatisfactory was that Liu Tingwei seemed to avoid responding. In the end, 14 students decided to sue for fraud and demanded a total of more than 3 million yuan in tuition fees.
Currently, the courses of CBA Asia Blockchain Academy are still available. After confirmation by (Crypto City), the course prices are as follows:
Getting Started Course: No Longer Available
Bollinger Band Strategy Application Course: NT$9,999
Trading Technology Practical Course: NT$19,999
Trading Analysis One-to-One Online Course: NT$39,999
Advanced Strategy Course: NT$150,000
Elite Course: NT$360,000
Image source: CBA Asia Blockchain Academy The CBA Asia Blockchain Academy founded by Liu Tingwei also broke out in the controversy of educational fraud
Media reports sparked controversy, netizens questioned biased protection
It is worth noting that after Liu Tingwei was formally prosecuted, some netizens questioned the previous reporting positions of some blockchain media on social media. Netizens pointed out that some media chose to directly publish BuckChaf’s statement when reporting on the CBA Academy controversy, describing the victims as "inciting to sue", "wanting to avoid payment", "deliberately making trouble", and even described reporting the case and refunding as fraudulent behavior.
Image source: Threads Netizen 500ucrypto questioned the blockchain media for vilifying the victims
Netizens angrily expressed: "You didn't ask any victims, but chose to directly help BuckChaf issue a statement to whitewash Liu Tingwei. Now the person you are protecting has been formally charged by the prosecutors for selling junk coins fraud."
Netizens questioned whether this reporting method was "secondary victimization," siding with the scammers to suppress the voices of the victims, and demanded that the relevant media apologize and withdraw the articles.
Image source: Threads Netizen 500ucrypto questioned the way blockchain media reported the news, saying it was "secondary victimization", standing on the side of the fraudsters to suppress the voices of the victims, and demanded that the relevant media apologize and withdraw the article
With Liu Tingwei formally prosecuted, this case not only exposed the complex methods of virtual currency fraud, but also triggered discussions on the balance of media reporting and the responsibility of verification. The prosecutor said that the case will continue to track the relevant financial flows to ensure that the rights and interests of the victims are protected.
(Crypto City) also reminds everyone that there are endless scams in the crypto industry. Whether it is a "new currency" that claims to cooperate with international brands, a high-paying "chain game investment", or a "blockchain course" that guarantees a high salary, we should be more cautious. Before investing, be sure to listen more, watch more, and ask more questions, and don't let your assets become victims of scams. Stay alert and protect yourself.
"The founder of the Blockchain Association is involved in fraud! Netizens shouted to a certain Taiwanese media: Did you apologize for helping to whitewash it before?" This article was first published in "Crypto City"
