Hong Kong authorities have arrested more than 70 people linked to the HK$1.6 billion JPEX cryptocurrency scandal that has rocked the city-state.
According to the latest SCMP report, around HK$230 million – worth around US$29.37 million – worth of assets have been frozen, as revealed by Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak- yee.
Hong Kong authorities crack down on JPEX
In a update provided to the legislature, Siu also revealed that the number of arrests related to the case rose to 72, with around HK$228 million frozen.
Lawmakers were also informed that police received 2,636 reports regarding the case, and the amount amounted to approximately HK$1.6 billion. Those previously detained included social media influencers such as Chan Wing-yee, Joseph Lam Chok and Sheena Leung, who promoted the trading platform through advertisements and set up their own stores voluntarily. at will.
Responding to lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong's inquiry, Siu further pointed out that police recorded 6,330 investment scams, both offline and online, over the past year, leading to losses exceeding 5.93 billion Hong Kong dollars. Among them, 2,342 cases were related to cryptocurrency, worth approximately HK$3.16 billion.
JPEX was one of Hong Kong's largest cryptocurrency exchanges that collapsed after allegations of Ponzi schemes and money laundering surfaced in 2023. Several people linked to JPEX were later arrested by the police.
As a result, Hong Kong regulators have increased their monitoring of cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the region.
Hong Kong's regulatory landscape
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has set February 29 as the deadline to apply for the Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) license from cryptocurrency-related entities, after which the regulator announced that it has ceased to accept license applications. All non-compliant platforms had to close their activities locally.
Several players withdrew before the deadline. This included Binance-linked HKVAEX and Justin Sun's HTX.
Despite this, Hong Kong has maintained its position as a crypto-friendly region and aims to position itself as a leading hub in Asia. The Hong Kong regulator even approved the first batch of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in April.
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