A man arrested for flinging Hong Kong hundred dollar bills ($13 USD) off a local high-rise in December is now being sued by investors who say he duped them out of $3 million dollars, South China Morning News (SCMP) reports.
Four investors staged a protest Sunday demanding a full refund from Wong Ching-kit, 24, a self-described “Bitcoin millionaire” who runs several cryptocurrency investing and promoting schemes, including the Epoch Cryptocurrency Facebook page, where the cash- tossing publicity stunt was broadcast.
In mid December, Wong posted a video of himself exiting an expensive, gaudy car in a poor part of Hong Kong to ask viewers if they believed money could fall from the sky.
Seconds later, at least $6000 HK cascaded from the top of a nearby highrise, and locals clamoured to scoop up the cash.
Wong was arrested for causing a disturbance but was reportedly not charged for that incident.
A video posted after the “windfall” one reportedly shows Wong, “speak(ing) from inside of a luxury car, describing himself as a kind of ‘god’ who ‘steals from the rich and gives to the poor.’”
Police now say 10 investors have approached them to claim Wong conned them into investing in a business for the mining of “File Cash Coin,” a coin Wong reportedly created that the investors say he failed to properly launch.
Members of the Hong Kong democratic are reportedly advocating on behalf of the investors. One of the Democrats, Ramon Yuen Hoi-man, a district councilor in Sham Shui Po, also has called on the government to increase regulations on the crypto sector.
After doing so, Hoi-man says he was threatened in a phone call, though the caller did not mention Wong.
Wong has characterized his investors as ungrateful:
“I sell mining machines only but am treated as if I have killed people. When they make money, there is no thank you. When they lose money, they call it a scam…When they make money, they won’t share their profits with me. But when they lose money, they ask me for money back.”
He also said losing money is par for the course in ‘business’:
“Can you define cheating? They say I cheated them. If they made money, would they still say they were cheated? You either make money or lose money in doing business.”
A source to SCMP from inside the Hong Kong police says the force is now conducting a full investigation into Wong, including a check for possible money laundering.
The source claims Wong commands an eight-figure bank account:
“The 24-year-old has to explain how he ended up with that large sum of money. It could be considered money laundering if one fails to explain the source of income.”
According to SCMP, Wong’s name at birth was Kwan Tsz-kit. In 2012, he was convicted of theft, sentenced to 160 hours of community service, and thereafter changed his name.