[Hong Kong News]Hong Kong version of Ponzi scheme?Many celebrities were involved in the arrest of two Internet celebrities; it was rare for the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government to review the graduating Hong Kong police; the results of “Night Colorful” were not good | JPEX | Internet celebrity | Lin Zuo | Chen Yi | Zhang Chilin | Fat Mom | Securities Regulatory Commission | Yan Baogang | China Liaison Office Office | Zheng Yanxiong | Graduation Parade | Inspecting Officer | Military Attache Administering Hong Kong | Guards | Colorful Nights in Hong Kong | Immigration | Leung Chi Kin

[Voice of Hope September 18, 2023](Comprehensive report by our reporter Zheng Xin)

Hong Kong version of Ponzi scheme?Many celebrities were involved in the arrest of two Internet celebrities

The virtual asset trading platform JPEX is suspected of illegal promotion and operation in Hong Kong, involving an amount of approximately HK$1 billion. Hong Kong police have intervened in the investigation and arrested 4 men and 2 women on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud on the 18th, including Internet celebrities Lin Zuo and Chen Yi. In addition, it is said that many Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities are also involved in this incident.

At noon on the 18th, Hong Kong police took away the Internet celebrity Lin Zuo involved in the case from an office in an entertainment store in Central and searched his office. Detectives seized multiple boxes of evidence, including a batch of cash. Lin Zuo had previously moved from the insurance industry to the cryptocurrency industry. In July, he declared on social platforms to “apply to become a partner of JPEX” and later promoted JPEX in a lecture.

Another internet celebrity, Chen Yi, who was involved in promoting the virtual currency platform JPEX, was also arrested by the police. The police escorted Chen Yi to the office to search for evidence at about 5 p.m., and did not leave until nearly 6 p.m., taking away a batch of evidence, including a large amount of cash, notebooks and electronic products.

The Hong Kong police stated on the 18th that after receiving a referral from the Securities and Futures Commission last Thursday (14th), after investigation, 4 men and 2 women were arrested in each district on suspicion of “conspiracy to defraud” and are currently being detained for investigation. As of 2 p.m. on the 18th, a total of 1,408 reports had been received, involving approximately HK$1 billion.

According to Hong Kong media reports, spokespersons who have promoted JPEX include Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities, such as Julian Cheung, Maria Cordero, Chen Lingjiu, Zhuang Simin, etc.

Zhang Zhilin responded through his agent that he was invited to shoot an advertisement in March last year, but after learning in May of the same year that JPEX had been supervised by the Securities and Futures Commission, he informed JPEX that it could not use Zhang Zhilin’s portrait for promotion before it obtained a license in Hong Kong. However, he only learned this recently The likeness is used by JPEX, so we reserve the right to pursue JPEX.

Fat Mom was accused of having made a promotional video for “CryptoPARD”, which is closely related to JPEX, but when responding to the media, she emphasized that it would not help JPEX’s promotion.

Since 2021, JPEX has been advertising on major transportation hubs and buildings in Hong Kong, claiming that it is “Japanese cryptocurrency exchange entering Hong Kong” and claiming to have obtained national trading platform licenses in Canada, Japan and Australia. However, investigations by multinational media have found that these so-called licenses are likely to be registered in the name of “head”. Since the registration in 2020, the actual person in charge and office location of JPEX have not been made public.

A review of records shows that JPEX and listed company Synergy Communications (01613) have established a joint venture, Jade Power, and its wholly-owned subsidiary has been operating a virtual property trading platform in Hong Kong since May and stated that it plans to apply for a license from the Securities Regulatory Commission, but in fact The cooperation between the two parties never started.

The Securities and Futures Commission issued a warning statement last Wednesday (13th), stating that none of the entities under the virtual asset trading platform named JPEX have been licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission, nor have they applied for a license from the Securities and Futures Commission to operate a virtual asset trading platform in Hong Kong. The statement requires relevant promoters to immediately stop promoting JPEX and its related products and services.

Later, many investment customers broke the news that their request to withdraw coins on the platform failed. As seen on the JPEX platform, the withdrawal limit was limited to a maximum of 1,000 Tether coins (USDT), and the withdrawal fee was changed to 999 Tether coins. In other words, retail investors The maximum amount that can only be withdrawn is about 1 US dollar (under normal circumstances, the platform will only withdraw 3-5 Tether coins), which reflects that the entire incident has fallen into an investment scam.

JPEX issued an announcement on the evening of the 17th, stating that third-party market makers were facing liquidity problems due to temporary locking of funds, resulting in operational difficulties. In the early morning of the 18th, all transactions on the financial management page were removed from the shelves, but they promised to continue operating.

Commentator Yan Baogang wrote in the Financial Dismantling Bureau column that the JPEX explosion incident stemmed from loopholes in the Hong Kong government’s propaganda and policies. That is, the Hong Kong government began to regulate cryptocurrencies and virtual assets on June 1, but the China Securities Regulatory Commission relaxed supervision and established During the 12-month transition period, unlicensed platforms have established new companies. On the one hand, they claim to the outside world that they will apply for a license from the China Securities Regulatory Commission in the short term, but at the same time, they have joined forces with Internet celebrities to vigorously promote “money-attracting” to the outside world. Since Hong Kong retail investors have limited knowledge of virtual assets and related laws, they have no way of judging whether products are compliant. Naturally, it is easy for them to listen to propaganda and fall into investment traps by mistake.

Uncommon Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government Reviews Hong Kong Police Graduation Conduct

Zheng Yanxiong, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, recently served as the review officer for the graduation ceremony of the Hong Kong police for the first time. In his speech, he said that the police force “bravely shoulders the important responsibility of national security” and called the Hong Kong police officers “guardians”. Analysts pointed out that the incident reflected the more obvious “military military attache” in Hong Kong and the tendency to militarize the police force. It cannot be ruled out that it may prepare for Beijing’s attack on Taiwan in the future.

The Hong Kong Police College held its graduation parade last Saturday (16th), which was conducted with Chinese foot drills and Mandarin commands. For the first time, the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government served as the reviewing officer, reviewing 28 trainee inspectors and 127 police officers.

Also present at the Police Graduation Ceremony were Chief Secretary for Administration Chan Kwok-kee, Director of Security Tang Bingqiang and Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government Luo Yonggang.

In his speech, Cheng Yanxiong said that the Hong Kong Police Force has lived up to its trust in recent years and “bravely shouldered the important responsibilities of national security” and “deserves to be the defenders of Hong Kong and heroes of the country.”

Zheng Yanxiong also said that at present, “there are still foreign hostile forces trying to undermine the stability of Hong Kong’s development, and there are also anti-China and Hong Kong elements trying to make a comeback” and other unstable factors, calling on the police force to “fight” to maintain national security and public order.

The Police Graduation Parade has always been reviewed by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Government, the Directors of the Third Department and the Chairman of relevant statutory bodies. In the past, the Police Graduation Parade was only reviewed by the then Commander of the Hong Kong Garrison, Tam Ben-hong, in July 2016.

France Broadcasting Corporation’s report on the 18th quoted Chinese affairs commentator Lin Heli as saying that Zheng Yanxiong, who was transferred from the director of the Central Office of National Security in Hong Kong to the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, inspected the police force’s graduation ceremony, which was a further step in the superficialization of Beijing’s governance over Hong Kong. The performance also makes the characteristics of “military military officers ruling Hong Kong” more obvious.

Prior to this, Hong Kong Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu had already been in the police force, and the Hong Kong governance team also included many people who had served in the disciplinary forces for a long time. In addition, the current director of the Office of National Security is Dong Jingwei, the former Deputy Minister of National Security of the Communist Party of China, which also highlights the security system governing Hong Kong.

Lin Heli also said that “struggle” and “guardian” are commonly used terms in mainland China, especially the word “guardian”, which more often refers to Chinese Communist soldiers. He speculated that Xi Jinping seems to have entered the stage of preparation for war in the Taiwan Strait. If Beijing attacks Taiwan in the future, Hong Kong must also be consistent with this. Zheng’s title has a tendency to further militarize the police force, or prepare for future war in the Taiwan Strait.

Is “Fun Night” losing to Shenzhen to grab customers?Hong Kong people’s rush to go north for consumption continues

The past two days (16th to 17th) were the first weekend after the launch of “Hong Kong Nights”. Figures from the Hong Kong Immigration Department show that the number of people heading north to Hong Kong in the past two days is still greater than the number of mainland tourists entering the city, which means that “Night Fun” is not as capable of attracting tourists as Shenzhen. Leung Chi-kin, chairman of the executive committee of the Real Estate Developers Association, said that Hong Kong’s economic downturn is affected by the general environment and the large number of Hong Kong people immigrating, and promoting the night-time economy will not be of much help to the overall economy.

The Hong Kong government held a launch ceremony for the “Hong Kong Night Fun” last Thursday (14th) and announced a series of activities lasting several months, including extending the business hours of shopping malls and restaurants to boost the night-time economy. One day after the incident, Shenzhen, which is adjacent to Hong Kong, immediately announced the “Several Measures of Shenzhen City on Promoting Consumption” aimed at facilitating Hong Kong people’s consumption, attracting Hong Kong people to go there for consumption.

According to statistics from the Immigration Department of France and France, excluding departures by sea and air, nearly 541,000 Hong Kong residents departed by land in the past two days, an increase of nearly 142,000 from the weekend of the previous week.

On the contrary, 179,000 mainland Chinese tourists entered Hong Kong through various land ports, which was more than 53,000 more than the weekends and Sundays of the previous week.

Comparing the two sets of figures, the increase in the number of Hong Kong people going north is 2.7 times the increase in the number of mainland tourists entering Hong Kong, which means that the number of Hong Kong people attracted to Shenzhen is much greater than the number of mainland tourists attracted to Hong Kong.

In an interview with Ming Pao, Leung Chi-kin, chairman of the executive committee of the Real Estate Developers Association and chairman of Wheelock Properties, said that the current economic downturn is a global situation, and there are at least 200,000 immigrants in Hong Kong, mainly the middle and upper classes, which has caused a shortage of manpower and domestic demand. further weakness.

He pointed out that there used to be many shops on Percival Street in Causeway Bay, but now only ten of them are empty. He said bluntly, “If the facade work is not done well, how can we have a night market?” He also took the night market on the Central Harbourfront as an example, saying that the government “has been doing it for more than 10 years.” “We can’t even afford it.” He believes that the night-time economic activities promoted by the government will not be of much help to the overall economy.

Regarding the government’s northern metropolitan area and Kau Yi Chau artificial island plan, Leung Chi-kin believes that it is sufficient to cope with the plan for the next 20 to 30 years. However, the government’s procedures are cumbersome and he believes that reforms should be made, otherwise it will slow down development.

Editor in charge: Yang Zheng