Modern Tech, a Ho Chi Minh City firm, allegedly defrauded 32,000 investors of approximately VND15 trillion, equivalent to $660 million. The company shut down operations afterward. The scheme involved
Modern Tech, a Ho Chi Minh City firm, allegedly defrauded 32,000 investors of approximately VND15 trillion, equivalent to $660 million. The company shut down operations afterward. The scheme involved two purported cryptocurrency projects, Ifan and Pincoin, both promoted under Modern Tech's name.
On Sunday, dozens of investors gathered at Modern Tech's former office in Ho Chi Minh City's business district carrying signs that demanded refunds and accused the company of fraud. A building manager revealed that Modern Tech had cleared out roughly one month before the protest, according to local news outlet Tuoi Tre.
Modern Tech marketed itself as the authorized Vietnamese distributor for Ifan and Pincoin. The company conducted the initial coin offerings on both projects' behalf.
Promoters pitched Ifan as a social network platform for entertainers and musicians to strengthen relationships with audiences. The associated token would serve multiple functions: payment for digital downloads, event tickets, merchandise, and endorsement deals.
Pincoin worked differently. Promoters advertised the token as an investment opportunity offering monthly returns of up to 40 percent. The PIN Foundation supposedly supervised the project. Modern Tech told investors that once their tokens traded on secondary markets, their value would skyrocket. Modern Tech also promised an 8 percent commission for each new investor recruited.
The scheme collapsed when Modern Tech stopped distributing commissions in cash. Instead, the company paid participants in tokens. Investors watched their dashboard valuations climb daily but found they couldn't convert holdings to money. Investors aired complaints across social platforms and investment forums, with some claiming total losses.
Cryptocurrency schemes leveraging investor fervor continue proliferating. Scammers exploit the promise of outsized returns and volatility to convince people to wager their savings on speculative tokens. In March, Giza Device, a startup claiming to build secure hardware wallets, raised $2 million before abandoning operations.
In India, police arrested businessman Amit Bhardwaj on April 4 at Bangkok airport. Bhardwaj had evaded authorities for nearly a year while operating what officials characterize as Bitcoin-based Ponzi schemes across multiple ventures including GainBitcoin, GBMiners, MCAP, and GB21. In Maharashtra alone, his schemes allegedly extracted Rs 2,000 crore, or $307 million, from investors. Senior investigators told India Today that the total fraud across all ventures could reach between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 13,000 crore, a range of $769 million to $2 billion. Numerous Bollywood actors promoted Bhardwaj's book, Cryptocurrency for Beginners, on social media platforms. Authorities plan to transport him to Pune for prosecution.
