Who are some of the worst people to invest your money with? Would it be with Stefan He
Quin who blew the millions he stole on sugar babies? Or would it be with Aziz Com Mirza,
who faked a crypto coin and scammed all his investors? Let’s get right into it!
4 - Sugar Babies Stefan He Quin
Stefan He Quin was a very successful cryptocurrency trader. Stefan,
who was born in Australia, developed an algorithm that monitored crypto exchanges around the world.
He enjoyed playing video games and loved to live the high life. Stefan was making so much
money that he leased a $23,000 a month 3 bedroom luxury apartment in 50 West.
50 West is a New York City 64-story highrise with views of lower Manhattan.
The apartment also had a pool, sauna, hot tub, steam room, and even a golf simulator.
Virgil Sigma
Stefan was a math whiz who attended the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
He was accepted into a program there and planned to use blockchain technology to
improve speeds for foreign exchange transactions.
Qin also attended an online college in San Francisco called Minerva Schools.
Stefan said in an interview that he planned on becoming a physicist,
but he dropped out of college instead. Eventually, he got an internship with
a Chinese firm where he was hired to create a way to trade crypto between the US and China.
Stefan moved to New York City and started a company called Virgil Sigma.
At first, Virgil was claiming 500% returns which quickly brought in more investors. The Wall Street
Journal did a profile on Stefan in 2018 and Virgil continued to attract new investors.
Qin claimed he was trading at 39 exchanges all around the world, but in reality, he was spending
the money on his own personal expenses and also investing in undisclosed areas like initial coin
offerings. Eventually, investors started reporting they were missing money and filed complaints.
At one point 9 investors with $3.5 million in funds asked to cash out but Stefan convinced them
to transfer their investments into another company he owned called VQR multistrategy.
VQR still has assets and he was able to conceal that Virgil’s balances were fabricated.
Stefan tried to withdraw $1.7 million from VQR and explained to the head trader that
the money was to repay loan sharks in China and that he didn't have money
to pay them on his own. He claimed that he borrowed the money from them
to start the businesses and that they might do anything to collect the debt.
All in all, Stefan had stolen nearly $90 million by the time the SEC got involved.
Love Life
Stefan claimed that he had trust and commitment issues that stemmed from a girlfriend
who cheated on him with a man who had more money than he did. He said that he then
started to pay sugar babies to be his companion and that’s where most of the stolen money went.
Qin went on to explain the reason he rented a 3-bedroom apartment at
50 West was because at any given time he always had 3 sugar babies. He also
later explained that he felt he was living in a video game.
Aftermath
When it was announced that Stefan’s companies were under investigation he was in a hotel room
with a sugar baby in South Korea. He explained that this was the lowest point of his life and
he asked her to stay another day but she wanted more money. Stefan said that he
finally realized it wasn’t a real relationship and agreed to turn himself in 2 days later.
Stefan was charged with securities fraud and he pled guilty in 2021. He was
sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison as well as 3 years of supervised release.
Stefan was also forced to forfeit nearly $54.8 million.
3 - Money Trees Planting Trees
Andrew Skeene and Omari Bowers were supposed to be businessmen in charge of teak tree farms in the
Amazon rainforest. Their company Global Forestry Investments had offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil,
London, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. The two men set up 3 farms, Belem Sky, Para Sky,
and Para Grosso plantation, and told investors that not only would they earn very profitable
returns but they would also help to protect the Amazon jungle. They also promise that they would
build homes for the tree farmers, a performing arts center, and a school for the children.
Teak Trees
Teak is a type of hardwood that’s very suitable for weather-resistant
products. The trees are native to Asia but plantations are often found in South America.
Teak has a high strength and a high oil content and it’s popular for making outdoor furniture,
flooring, countertops, and building boats.
Teak has been used as a material to build boats for over 2000 years
because in addition to its high strength teak is also very resistant to rotting,
fungus, and mildew. The wood also doesn’t shrink very much.
Teak is also used to make doors and window frames and it’s resistant to termites and
other insects. With all of these uses, it’s not hard to imagine that it sells for a good price.
The Scam
Andrew and Omari would tell prospective investors that in this case money actually
did grow on trees. They also said that all of these plantations were
being developed and that they were secure and well managed. In reality,
nothing was happening on the ground and the two men were withdrawing cash to spend on themselves.
Skeene and Bowers held a champagne event and claimed investors would see
a return between 10 and 20 percent, but it was all a hoax. Between 2010 and 2015
the men had taken over £35 million and spent the money on their lavish lifestyles.
Aftermath
The two men were using other companies to route the money and conceal that they were spending
it on things like a Bentley Continental GT and a lavish wedding. After Global Forestry Investments
went bankrupt Skeene and Bowers tried to hide the funds and even obtain additional investors.
All in all, over 2,000 people were scammed out of their savings and pensions.
Eventually, Andrew and Omari were investigated and charged with conspiracy to defraud and misconduct.
They were brought to court and were convicted of these crimes and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
2 - Get Burned Chris Burns
Chris Burns was a well-known investment adviser from Atlanta, Georgia. He had a local radio show
and has appeared on Fox Business several times as well. Chris started a company
called Investus Advisers and claimed he was developing a peer-to-peer lending program.
Chris explained to clients that businesses in need of money would borrow from them and pay back the
loans with up to 20% interest or as a lump sum. From February 2017 until September 2020 Chris
sold around $10 million in promissory notes to at least 40 investors. The SEC said the peer-to-peer
lending program was a sham and that Burns was actually spending the money to fund his lifestyle.
He bought a million-dollar lake house, a boat, cars, paid business expenses,
and repaid earlier investors like any other Ponzi scheme. Chris was also purchasing thousands of
dollars worth of airtime for his radio show so he could elevate his status in the Atlanta financial
community. He also married his wife Meredith and they had a joint bank account with $150,000.
Vanished
In September of 2020, Chris started to ramp up the scam and received $320,000
which he transferred to his personal bank account or withdrew the money. Sometimes he even asked
investors to meet at a local Dunkin Donuts so they could pay their investments in cash.
On September 23 Chris entered into a divorce agreement with his wife and transferred many
of their joint assets, including the deed to their house, to her for $10.
The next day he transferred $165,000 to a personal checking account and disappeared.
The SEC said that Chris became aware they were investigating him during this time.
Aftermath
After Chris went on the run the FBI charged him with a mail fraud scheme and a default
judgment was entered in the SEC lawsuit that was filed against him and his companies.
Chris would have to pay a civil fine of $652,629 if he’s caught.
He hasn’t been seen since he left home on September 24,
2020, but the vehicle he was driving was found abandoned in Dunwoody,
Georgia. The FBI reported they froze various bank accounts for his businesses and a federal
arrest warrant was issued for Chris on October 23, 2020, but so far there has been no action.
Burns was also ordered to pay $12 million to the people he scammed assuming he’s ever
caught. His now ex-wife Meredith agreed to return $320,000 in funds he transferred to
her as well. An attorney said there are 2 explanations for Chris Burns’ disappearance.
One possibility is that he is living off the grid and is trying to hide with a new identity.
The other possibility is that Chris committed suicide when
he was faced with being arrested. Chris is still wanted by the FBI.
1 - HabibiCoin
Aziz Com Mirza Aziz “Com” Mirza said he was an entrepreneur
and ran multiple companies in technology, real estate, automotive, luxury rental, cryptocurrency,
investment, and media industries. Mirza is Canadian and lived in the Burj Khalifa in
Dubai. He drove supercars and has over 800,000 followers on his Instagram.
Mirza also said he ran an annual food drive for Ramadan that has fed over 35 million people.
He and his brother Rocky got associated with an online community called the Muslim
Entrepreneur Network or MEN. They used MEN to organize get-rich-quick
seminars and advertise their investment business called the Leverage Programme.
Com introduced his older brother Rocky to the team at MEN and said he was a math genius and
the “Steve Jobs of the Muslim World”. Mirza also launched another business called the
International Success Group which was supposed to be a subscription-based
educational website where Mirza would teach people how to better invest their money.
Seminars
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Mirzza and Rocky were
scamming people. Anyone who’s offering a get-rich-quick seminar is up to no good
and Mirza used cliche tactics like promising people they’d be able to quit their jobs.
During a seminar in 2017 Com’s brother, Rocky told prospective investors that they would
become profitable within the very first year and guaranteed financial freedom. After that seminar
around 1,200 people signed up for the program. Initially, the minimum cost to join was £5,000,
but as time went by the new members paid between £15,000 and £25,000 to sign up.
By January 2019 the Leverage Programme had made over £4 million. The International
Success Group was also converted from an educational website to an investment program.
People were told they would get a 10% return within a year and spent between $5,000 to $150,000
to join. These people were from the US, UK, Canada, and the UAE.
Com had invited some of the prospective clients to see his apartment at the Burj Khalifa and
told them he was a real estate developer in Dubai. He not only guaranteed 10% returns on
their investment but also told them he would pay out of his own pocket if anything went wrong.
Money Trail
As is typical with Ponzi schemes Mirza used some of the money paid by new investors to pay back
old ones. He also had wired £1.8 million to the bank account of a company that was
owned by a third brother. Mirza also spent a huge amount of money on his personal expenses.
The brothers were also funding various businesses around the world. One of these business ventures
was a UK taxi app called Empty Trip. Mirza said that this app would, naturally, revolutionize
the world, and investors were told it was in the final stages of discussion with UK regulators.
The UK Department for International Trade has no record of any meeting with the brothers
and the current director of Empty Trip is Rocky’s nephew. The brothers were reported
to the Metropolitan Police in London, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Dubai Police.
Com also said that money collected from the International Success Group was being spent
on the construction of a villa in Dubai, but he refused to show anyone the place
or share any details about the property saying that it could sabotage the project.
Habibi Coin
Com launched a cryptocurrency called Habibi Coin which was supposed to be
Sharia compliant and backed by real estate. It was described as a way to help members
participate in fractional real estate ownership without needing a high income or good credit.
Once again people rushed to invest as Mirza promised big returns, but the currency was
actually worthless and wasn’t listed on any crypto exchanges. Mirza claimed that Habibi
Coin was being acquired by a larger company, but then he stopped posting about it completely.
An investor from Greece spent $17,000 on Habibi after meeting Mirza at his Burj
Khalifa apartment. The investor said that Mirzza told him he was worth $500 million
and that he became wealthy after investing early in companies like Airbnb and LinkedIn.
Aftermath
Eventually, Mirza was arrested in Dubai and charged with fraud. He was sentenced to 6 months
in jail and fined $75,500 and also sentenced in another case to 6 months and fined $140,000 and
will then be deported. Dubai is probably the last place you would ever want to go to jail.
While this may sound like a slap on the wrist,
a lawyer that’s familiar with the case said Mirza is unlikely to get out of jail unless
he pays back investors who have filed other cases against him. Even though he has been
sentenced the civil cases are still pending and will cause him to remain locked up.
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Let us know in the comment section who you think are more likely to be scammers,
someone trying to sell you crypto or someone who’s a prosperity preacher!