Kraken to expand services to stocks and ETFs
US-based crypto exchange Kraken has announced plans to expand its products with intention to expand globally too.
Investigations of an alleged Ponzi scheme in South Korea are currently underway, but ‘investors’ (or victims) are reported to be hindering the progress. Still believing that the project is legitimate, those involved in the $3.6 billion USD scheme are holding out in hopes of profiting from their investment and unwilling to aid the investigation.
As reported, Korean law firm Daegon representing 130 victims filed a complaint against V Global and the team heading it up.
As part of the investigation, the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency is looking into the cryptocurrency platform, V Global, after suspicions that the company is a Ponzi scheme that has reportedly defrauded nearly 70,000 people from nearly $3.6 billion UD (4 trillion won). The company offered premises to investors that it would be able to help them see triple the return on their investment.
As a defence and to keep investors on its side, the company put up a notice on its website, claiming that the suggestion is “false” and that it has filed a complaint with the regional police for defamation and “obstruction of business”. In response, some of the victims are refusing to talk with the police and are opting against reporting the case. As reported by local media site JoongAng Daily, this is problematic for the police investigation and hinders the progress of the case.
The elderly – new to crypto – victims of the scheme
As per the report, a man told his mother to report the case, but “she thinks she can get the money back, three times the amount she has invested, just like the group has promised her. So she is refusing to report them. And I think she’s not alone among the victims — I heard many of them were elderly people who are new to the concept of cryptocurrency.”
The company plays into this, telling vulnerable investors implying they should not report to the police and that they should see what the outcome is. As another concerned family member wrote: “A few days ago, on June 2, they sent [my mother] a text message alleging that no one in the company is being investigated by the police. They keep telling the investors to wait and see, to prevent them from reporting them to the police.”