Australian Entrepreneur Charged in $1.9 Billion Cryptocurrency Fraud Scheme
• Australian blockchain entrepreneur Sam Lee charged in US with conspiracy to commit fraud for alleged role in $1.89bn HyperVerse crypto Ponzi scheme • Lee faces up to 5 years in jail if convicted for allegedly defrauding investors and operating a pyramid scheme with co-conspirators • HyperTech crypto schemes under various names like HyperFund, HyperVerse raised over $1.7 billion from investors globally • SEC complaint alleges Lee maintained control of HyperFund, made false statements about investments to lure investors • Investigations conducted jointly by US Department of Homeland Security and IRS Criminal Investigation unit