Hong Kong court postpones the JPEX fraud case involving an amount of 206 million USD to March for trial

PANews December 17 News, according to Decrypt, in the Hong Kong JPEX scam case, prosecutors have been granted permission to postpone the case until next year to organize case files during a hearing at the Eastern Magistrates’ Court in the city on Monday. The next hearing is scheduled for March 16, where a group of social media influencers accused of promoting JPEX and acting as the “face” of its off-site cryptocurrency trading stores will appear in court. Of the eight defendants appearing in court, seven have been granted bail under the original conditions. The accused include lawyer-turned-influencer Lin Zuo, YouTube blogger Chen Yingyi, former TVB actor Zheng Junxi, and fitness coach Zhao Jingxian. Zheng Junxi, who did not apply for bail, will continue to be detained. In September 2023, after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission warned that JPEX was operating without a license and engaging in misleading promotion, the platform declared bankruptcy, and user withdrawals were frozen. Authorities stated that over 2,700 victims suffered losses exceeding $206 million (HKD 1.6 billion). On November 5 this year, police arrested and charged 16 individuals, including 6 core members, 7 related to off-site exchanges, and 3 puppet account holders. Over 80 people have been arrested during the investigation. JPEX is also accused of causing harm in the Philippines and Taiwan, with three masterminds on the run and wanted by Interpol.