杨斌

Yang Bin, who was once the second on China's rich list, was sentenced to six years in prison in Singapore for a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoinist, Yang Bin, who was once the second richest person on the Chinese rich list, has been sentenced to six years in prison in Singapore for running a Ponzi scheme disguised as a cryptocurrency investment business, involving millions of dollars.On August 26, the 61-year-old Dutch national of Chinese descent admitted to eight charges, including conspiracy to participate in a fraudulent scheme and operating without a valid work permit, and was fined 16,000 Singapore dollars (12,200 USD).According to local media reports, Yang Bin conducted fraudulent activities under the name A&A Blockchain Innovation, attracting over 700 investors who invested 6.7 million Singapore dollars between May 2021 and February 2022, but lost about 1.1 million Singapore dollars.The company claimed to own 300,000 cryptocurrency mining machines, generating a daily return of 0.5% for investors. However, such machines did not actually exist. Instead, Yang Bin used funds from new investors to pay returns to earlier investors, a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.It is reported that in 2001, Yang Bin was ranked as the second richest person on the Chinese rich list by Forbes magazine and was regarded as a pioneer in China's economic boom and a model of rapid wealth accumulation. In 2003, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Chinese court for tax evasion and was released in 2016 after serving his sentence.
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