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Crime in Hong Kong
Hong KongLaw and Crime

Hong Kong cryptocurrency promoter thought to be behind money-tossing stunt arrested for fraud over sale of digital coin ‘mining machines’

  • Wong Ching-kit, 25, better known as ‘Coin Young Master’, and 20-year-old colleague arrested by Commercial Crime Bureau officers
  • Pair held for conspiracy to defraud for allegedly selling cryptocurrency ‘mining machines’ to investors

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Wong Ching-kit is suspected of being behind a stunt that saw banknotes being thrown from the top of a building in Sham Shui Po in December. Photo: Dickson Lee
Danny Mok

A flamboyant Hong Kong cryptocurrency businessman thought to be behind a recent “money from the sky” stunt was arrested on Thursday with a core member of the company for conspiracy to defraud after allegedly selling “mining machines” to investors.

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Officers from the police’s Commercial Crime Bureau arrested Wong Ching-kit, 25, better known as “Coin Young Master”, and a 20-year-old man at their office in TML Tower in Tsuen Wan.

In January, a number of Hongkongers claimed they were duped into investing in so-called cryptocurrency mining machines, which are high-powered computers, losing about HK$3 million (US$384,600) in total in a venture linked to Wong.

In February, an investor filed a lawsuit against Wong in the District Court seeking a refund of HK$125,000 (US$16,000) for payment for five machines.

HK$100 notes flutter down from a high-rise in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Facebook
HK$100 notes flutter down from a high-rise in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Facebook
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Chief Inspector Crystal Ho Yui-kuen from the bureau said late on Thursday that 16 men and two women, aged 24 to 55, had approached police for help since December with complaints against the pair’s firm, which opened in 2017. She said their investments amounted to more than HK$2.6 (US$331,000) million in total, with one complainant losing over HK$1.1 million (US$140,000).

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