Sam Lee Crypto Scam: How the HyperVerse Ponzi Stole $1.89B from Investors

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Once celebrated as Australia’s “crown prince of Bitcoin,” Sam Lee is now in a legal scoop with both the SEC and the DOJ. The blockchain entrepreneur, who co-founded the HyperVerse and HyperFund crypto investment schemes, is facing fraud charges from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Prosecutors accuse him of running a $1.89 billion Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors worldwide.

The SEC alleges that Lee and his co-conspirators operated a multi-level marketing scam disguised as a high-return crypto investment. From June 2020 to November 2022, investors were lured in with promises of guaranteed profits, but instead, their money was funneled into a fraudulent system. One of Lee’s key promoters, Brenda Chunga, has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, admitting that HyperFund “mined” investors’ funds rather than cryptocurrencies. One analyst tracked his scam history. Here’s what happened so far.