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The U.S. Justice Department has brought charges against two individuals and obtained the guilty plea of a third in connection with an extensive $1.89 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
Sam Lee, a 35-year-old Australian citizen residing in Dubai, is accused of co-founding the seemingly lucrative online investment platform, HyperFund. Rodney Burton, 54, from Miami, and Brenda Chunga, 43, from Maryland, were identified as promoters of HyperFund.
Court documents reveal that HyperFund’s promotional materials allegedly made false assertions, claiming that individuals purchasing HyperFund “memberships” would receive passive rewards ranging from 0.5% to 1% daily until their initial investment doubled or tripled. To substantiate these claims, HyperFund allegedly asserted that its payments originated from revenues generated by extensive cryptocurrency mining operations, which, in reality, did not exist. By at least July 2021, HyperFund purportedly started blocking investor withdrawals.
U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland commented, “The level of alleged fraud here is staggering. Whether it’s cryptocurrency fraud or any other financial fraud, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This office and our law enforcement partners will hold perpetrators accountable for these and other fraud schemes.”
Sam Lee faces one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, with a potential maximum prison sentence of five years upon conviction. Rodney Burton is charged through a criminal complaint, facing one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, each carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Brenda Chunga has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
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