The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has arrested an exiled Chinese businessman, who orchestrated a $1 billion fraud scheme, including $262 million through a faked crypto exchange.
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The regulator said in a press release on Wednesday, it arrested Ho Wan Kwok, who alongside his Kin Ming Je made various wire, securities and bank fraud in addition to money laundering.
The DoJ claims Kwok and Je misappropriated "hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained funds during the course of their conspiracy." However, in addition to the traditional fraud, both also organized a crypto exchange called Himalaya Exchange.
For the trading platform, they issued a stablecoin dubbed Himalaya Dollar (HDO) and a token called Himalaya Coin (HCN). The exchange claimed that each HCN was worth approximately 27 HDO (~$27), which represented a 26,900% increase from where the token was trading at.
The DoJ says Kwok and Je spent millions of dollars of victims' funds to buy a 50,000 square foot New Jersey mansion, various furniture and decorative items, a custom-built Bugatti sports car and a luxury 145-foot yacht. Although Je is at large, both are facing up to 215 years in prison on 12 counts.
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