Once the second richest man in China in a Singapore prison: a six-year change for an encryption eyewash.

Have you heard of Yang Bin? Once the second richest man in China, he is now serving time in a Singapore prison—sentenced to 6 years for a meticulously planned eyewash.

This guy established a company called “A&A Blockchain Innovation” in Singapore in April 2021, but there is a problem: he does not have a legal work permit at all. Even more outrageous is that this company claims to have 300,000 mining machines and promises investors a daily return of 0.5%.

But when I turned around, these mining machines didn't exist at all.

From May 2021 to February 2022, over 700 investors were deceived, with a total investment exceeding 5 million dollars. Yang Bin's scheme is quite classic: using the money from later investors to pay returns to earlier ones, a standard eyewash. Although some did receive returns, the total losses caused by the entire scheme exceed 750,000 dollars.

Interestingly, there are also three Chinese accomplices involved. One of them, a guy named Wang Xinghong, is specifically responsible for developing an app to forge investment return statements—this guy has already been sentenced to 5 years for it. The other two are still arguing in court.

The court ruling mentioned that Yang Bin is the mastermind of this eyewash, and his attitude is not good at all—he never considered compensating the victims. His lawyer tried to plead for him, stating that he cooperated with the investigation and had a good attitude towards admitting guilt, but the judge did not buy it. Considering his core role and the huge losses caused, he was ultimately sentenced to a full 6 years.

If the fine of more than 12,000 dollars is not paid, an additional 40 days in jail will be added.

This guy has been arrested for a long time, he has been in jail since August 17, 2023. This incident also reminds us that there are really a lot of eyewash in the encryption field, such as high returns, mining machines, and project parties, so we must stay vigilant.