Almost 2.5 years ago, we wrote a short piece on Marvelstone Group, whose ran “the world’s largest fintech hub” and whose Chairman, Joe Cho, frequented all the fintech conferences and seminars.
We said:
“Was Joe Cho a fraud, or just an entrepreneur who had some bad luck (which most entrepreneurs do, unfortunately)?
Judging from the report that 33% annual return was “guaranteed” to individual investors by Marvelstone, we thought the former was more likely.”
More than 2 years later, fintech in Southeast Asia is gaining momentum (and funding), conferences are online, and South Korea’s court seems to agree with our assessment.
According to Business Times, Joe Cho has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in South Korea. An appeal process is ongoing for the sentence which was delivered on 8 August.
Business Times also reported that at least 70 investors claiming more than $8 million of investments have not recovered their investments, according to their lawyer.
The fintech world in Singapore has moved on, but the debate on what constitutes fraud will continue.
To be honest, most of the times it is not that hard to tell.