The UK government has cracked down on a cryptocurrency advisory firm that misled investors and promoted fraudulent schemes, resulting in significant financial losses.
Amey Finance Academy, headed by self-proclaimed “wealth creation expert” Desmond Amey, was shut down by the country’s Insolvency Service after a court order on April 30.
TLDR
- The UK government shut down a crypto firm called Amey Finance Academy for providing misleading investment advice and promoting fraudulent schemes like HyperFund/HyperVerse.
- The firm’s founder, Desmond Amey, told clients their investments were “100 certy” and urged them to “trust me bro” despite them losing significant sums.
- Around £5 million ($6.3 million) passed through Amey Finance Academy’s accounts between 2019 and 2022, but the firm failed to provide adequate records.
- One of the schemes promoted was HyperFund/HyperVerse, an alleged $1.7 billion Ponzi scheme that was later investigated by US authorities.
- Amey misrepresented his firm’s credentials and made false claims about being authorized by UK financial regulators.
According to the Insolvency Service’s investigation, Amey Finance Academy actively “persuaded individuals to invest in cryptocurrency schemes” while downplaying the associated risks.
The firm’s sole director, Desmond Amey, provided assurances to clients that their investments were secure, even telling some that their funds were “100 certy” and urging them to “trust me bro.”
However, these guarantees proved to be empty promises, as multiple investors reported losing substantial portions of their investments after following Amey Finance Academy’s advice.
One client was explicitly told their investment would not drop below 90% of its value, only to lose everything.
Cryptocurrency advice firm shut down after investors lost money and director failed to keep proper accounts:https://t.co/JxTMaMDdlB
— Insolvency Service (@insolvencygovuk) May 13, 2024
Despite claiming to be “an established and successful independent consultancy,” the firm displayed a concerning lack of transparency and failed to provide up-to-date accounting records to investigators.
This obfuscation prevented the Insolvency Service from determining the full scope of Amey Finance Academy’s activities, assets, and liabilities.
What is known, however, is that around £5 million ($6.3 million) passed through the company’s bank accounts between October 2019 and March 2022.
The source and ultimate destination of these funds remain uncertain due to the firm’s opaque financial records.
One of the cryptocurrency schemes actively promoted by Amey Finance Academy was HyperFund, later rebranded as HyperVerse.
This project has been identified as an alleged $1.7 billion Ponzi scheme that evaded scrutiny from Australian authorities for nearly two years before drawing the attention of US regulators.
In January 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged HyperVerse’s founder, Sam Lee, with fraud. The scheme was also notable for featuring a fake CEO, “Steve Harrison,” whose identity remains unknown.
Amey’s relationship with HyperFund/HyperVerse is unclear, as he provided contradictory statements about the nature of his involvement.
At one point, he claimed to have used Amey Finance Academy’s bank account solely to facilitate cryptocurrency purchases through a separate company called Bleuguava.
Adding to the firm’s dubious practices, Amey misrepresented Amey Finance Academy’s credentials and regulatory status.
He falsely claimed the company was authorized and regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and even used an email signature suggesting he was the managing director of a dissolved company called Amey Commercial Finance Ltd.
In 2023, Amey was evicted from the firm’s claimed office address in London’s Canary Wharf district for non-payment of rent, despite continuing to assert the company’s presence there.
The Insolvency Service’s chief investigator, Mark George, emphasized the importance of protecting the public from such opaque and objectionable business practices, stating:
“The public deserve protection from companies trading in an opaque and objectionable manner, which is why we applied to have Amey Finance Academy shut down.”
With the firm now officially wound up, the process of liquidating its remaining assets will commence, although the lack of transparent records may hinder efforts to recover funds for affected investors.
