SINGAPORE: The former chief executive officer of the now-defunct cryptocurrency platform Hodlnaut, Zhu Juntao, was charged on Tuesday (May 26) over "misleading" statements posted on social media.
The statements claimed that Hodlnaut, an online platform that allowed over 30,000 global users to deposit digital tokens to earn interest, did not have direct exposure to TerraUSD (UST) and did not suffer losses from the UST crash in early May 2022.
Hodlnaut became defunct in August 2022 after experiencing financial difficulties and laying off staff.
The 36-year-old Singaporean was given six charges of fraud by false representations by posting misleading statements on platforms like Twitter, as it was known then, or by instigating employees to make misleading statements.
According to the charges, in June 2022, Zhu posted the following misleading statements on Twitter, now known as X: "Hodlnaut as a firm did not take any losses on UST, users who held/bought UST on our platform did", "Missed this but had no price exposure to $UST or incurred any losses from the debacle" and "We are aware that there have been articles circulating on @hodlnautdotcom taking losses on the $UST collapse and would like to reiterate that we did not take any losses as a firm but users on our platform who held UST did".
Sometime before May 25, 2022, Zhu allegedly instigated a Goh Chang Teck to post a misleading statement on Telegram to say that Hodlnaut had no "direct exposure to LUNA/UST as a company" and that none of the company's funds were used in LUNA/UST.
Sometime before Jun 28, 2022, Zhu also allegedly instigated the same person to post on Telegram: "The statement is clear. 1) Company did not make losses. 2) Losses were from user funds."
Zhu is also accused of instigating a Megan Lois Lau Shi May to send an email to 30 email addresses in 2022 containing the misleading statement: "We want to take this time to assure you that we did not assume any losses as a firm but users on our platform who held UST did".
Zhu indicated on Tuesday that he was not guilty and disputed all the charges.
He was given a pre-trial conference date in June.
If convicted of fraud by false representation, he could be jailed for up to 20 years, fined, or both.
The police said in a statement that cryptocurrencies are "volatile and speculative in nature and do not carry any underlying or fundamental value".
They reminded the public to be aware of the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and said dealing with it is "highly risky" and not suitable for the general public, who also face the risk of service providers collapsing due to fraud.
Continue reading...
The statements claimed that Hodlnaut, an online platform that allowed over 30,000 global users to deposit digital tokens to earn interest, did not have direct exposure to TerraUSD (UST) and did not suffer losses from the UST crash in early May 2022.
Hodlnaut became defunct in August 2022 after experiencing financial difficulties and laying off staff.
The 36-year-old Singaporean was given six charges of fraud by false representations by posting misleading statements on platforms like Twitter, as it was known then, or by instigating employees to make misleading statements.
According to the charges, in June 2022, Zhu posted the following misleading statements on Twitter, now known as X: "Hodlnaut as a firm did not take any losses on UST, users who held/bought UST on our platform did", "Missed this but had no price exposure to $UST or incurred any losses from the debacle" and "We are aware that there have been articles circulating on @hodlnautdotcom taking losses on the $UST collapse and would like to reiterate that we did not take any losses as a firm but users on our platform who held UST did".
Sometime before May 25, 2022, Zhu allegedly instigated a Goh Chang Teck to post a misleading statement on Telegram to say that Hodlnaut had no "direct exposure to LUNA/UST as a company" and that none of the company's funds were used in LUNA/UST.
Sometime before Jun 28, 2022, Zhu also allegedly instigated the same person to post on Telegram: "The statement is clear. 1) Company did not make losses. 2) Losses were from user funds."
Zhu is also accused of instigating a Megan Lois Lau Shi May to send an email to 30 email addresses in 2022 containing the misleading statement: "We want to take this time to assure you that we did not assume any losses as a firm but users on our platform who held UST did".
Zhu indicated on Tuesday that he was not guilty and disputed all the charges.
He was given a pre-trial conference date in June.
If convicted of fraud by false representation, he could be jailed for up to 20 years, fined, or both.
The police said in a statement that cryptocurrencies are "volatile and speculative in nature and do not carry any underlying or fundamental value".
They reminded the public to be aware of the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and said dealing with it is "highly risky" and not suitable for the general public, who also face the risk of service providers collapsing due to fraud.
Continue reading...