The CEO of Vietnam-based cryptocurrency mining farm Sky Mining has reportedly absconded, leaving investors USD 35 million short.
Investors found an abandoned premises
The Sky Mining business structure offered people the chance to buy shares in the cryptocurrency mining hardware and collect a percentage of the profits. It advertised these profits at 300% in one year for a one-time payment between USD 100 and USD 5,000, as well as private use of a mining device for 15 to 18 months.
When the investors were told they may pick up their mining equipment from the business’s registered location, they instead found empty, closed premises. Upon further investigation, Sky Mining’s Phu Nhuan District office was also found abandoned.
CEO, Le Minh Tam, has been AWOL since Thursday; 5,000 investors are faced with losing an estimated total of USD 35 million.
No good news for investors
Local media outlet Thanh Nien published a letter reportedly from Tam who claimed his mining venture was no longer profitable and he was forced to sell the equipment to cover his losses, then run in fear for his life. In a new addition to the saga, Saturday he posted a Telegram chat video where he claimed he would return and restore the business to profitability.
Deputy chairman of Sky Mining Le Minh Hieu attempted to control the chaos by forming a board of 16 participants but was forced to disperse the group when he and his family became subject to death threats from angry investors. Hieu said that he too was a victim of Tam’s scam and has reported the threats to the police.
He said that he assumed Tam had retreated to the US with the investors’ money, noting that Tam most likely succeeded in his endeavor because he was responsible for directly managing the goings on of the mining equipment.
As of Monday, 20 investors have signed a joint complaint with the police department, with one investor taking her complaint to court after allegedly loosing approximately USD 269,000. Unfortunately, Vo Do Thang, Director of the Athena Network Security Training Center told VNexpress they had next to no chance of seeing their money returned.
Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom
Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews
Image Courtesy: Pixabay
