Singapore police charged former Hodlnaut CEO Zhu Juntao with six counts of fraud by false illustration on Could 26.
Abstract
- Singapore police charged former Hodlnaut CEO Zhu Juntao with six fraud counts tied to UST claims.
- Police stated the alleged statements denied direct UST publicity and losses after Terra’s 2022 crash.
- Associated studies present Hodlnaut beforehand confronted claims of $190 million in UST-linked losses.
The Industrial Affairs Division led the investigation into the now-defunct crypto lender.
Zhu, 36, faces three prices underneath Part 424A(1)(a) learn with Part 424A(3) of Singapore’s Penal Code. He additionally faces three additional prices underneath the identical provisions learn with Part 109.
TerraUSD claims sit on the heart of the case
Police stated the case pertains to statements made after TerraUSD crashed in Could 2022. Zhu allegedly instigated Hodlnaut workers to make “deceptive statements” within the firm’s Telegram group and in emails despatched to some customers between Could and July 2022.
These statements allegedly stated Hodlnaut had no direct publicity to UST and didn’t undergo losses from the crash. Police additionally stated Zhu revealed three comparable posts on his private Twitter account, now X, in June 2022.
Hodlnaut’s 2022 collapse returns to focus
Hodlnaut allowed customers to deposit digital tokens and earn curiosity. Police stated the platform had greater than 30,000 customers worldwide earlier than it grew to become defunct in August 2022 following monetary difficulties.
As beforehand reported by crypto.information, Singapore police had been trying into Hodlnaut since 2022 over fraud and deception claims tied to Terra/Luna publicity. That report stated earlier sources claimed Hodlnaut misplaced near $190 million from the UST meltdown and had about $18.5 million parked at FTX.
Hodlnaut’s monetary stress had already reached Singapore’s courts in August 2022. As crypto.information reported, the lender utilized for judicial administration after halting withdrawals, in search of courtroom safety whereas it tried to deal with a liquidity disaster.
Judicial administration gave the corporate momentary safety from creditor claims. The transfer got here throughout a wider crypto lending disaster after Terra’s collapse, which additionally hit a number of corporations throughout the digital asset market.
Singapore retains stress on crypto corporations
If convicted, Zhu faces as much as 20 years in jail, a superb, or each, for every cost. Police additionally warned the general public about dangers tied to crypto merchandise and repair supplier failures.
The case comes throughout a more durable interval for crypto oversight in Singapore. crypto.information reported final week that the Financial Authority of Singapore revoked Bsquared Know-how’s main cost establishment license after discovering false or deceptive info, weak threat controls, and outsourcing failures.
