财新: A Chinese Female Crypto Tycoon in the US Defrauded of Over 60 Million Yuan

Odaily reports that a Chinese female crypto tycoon in the US fell victim to an investment scam, suffering losses of over USD 9.4 million (approximately RMB 60 million). The report states that the victim is identified as Lu, the CEO of a computing power technology company in Southwest China. According to reports, her mining pool was once said to account for approximately 9% of the global total Bitcoin hashrate at its peak.

The report indicates that two brothers, who claimed to have "Middle Eastern royal family" backgrounds, known as the Zubair brothers, carried out the fraud using fake identities. One of them claimed to be the "son-in-law of a Middle Eastern royal family" and asserted control over Middle Eastern family funds, international business connections, and local US government resources. The other impersonated a character from the American TV series "Billions," styling himself as a hedge fund manager. The pair also managed to contact and influence Michael Smedley, the chief of staff to the mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio. Ultimately, they induced Lu to sign a contract for the development of a cryptocurrency mining farm. (Caixin)