Pyramid and Ponzi scheme fraudsters ordered to pay victims

They will hand back HK$2.8m

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The Hong Kong Court of First Instance has granted orders sought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) against fraudsters of a global Pyramid and Ponzi scheme to compensate victims.

The scheme was operated by DFRF Enterprises LLC and DFRF Enterprises LLC, and their founder, Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, between 2014 and 2015.

According to the SFC, DFRF, which had gold mining operations, said it would soon be listed in the US and persuaded a number of Hong Kong investors to acquire “membership units” of its programme for a monthly return.

Around May 2015, they “falsely claimed that DFRF had been listed in the US and offered investors the option to convert their membership units into preferred shares of DFRF at a certain price”, the SFC said.

In December 2016 and March 2017, the SFC obtained interim injunctions to freeze assets in the two bank accounts that received monies from investors for the purpose of acquiring ‘membership units’ and converting them into preferred shares.

Now, the court has appointed administrators to receive and distribute the proceeds of the scheme remaining in two bank accounts – approximately totalling HK$2.8m (£290,000, $360,000, €340,000) to investors on a pro rata basis.

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