Pair launch first civil action against JPEX
Two victims of alleged fraud cases involving the cryptocurrency trading company JPEX have lodged claims at the District Court to recover funds, in the first civil action against the platform. The writ of summons, filed by plaintiffs Chan Wing-yan and Herbert Lee on Monday, listed JPEX Crypto Asset Platform as the first defendant, and locally-registered Web 3.0 Technical Support as the second.  Three others, who appear as "holder of wallet address" for the three accounts on the trading platform, were also named as defendants.  Felix Chiu, a general manager of the over-the-counter cryptocurrency exchange Coingaroo, is listed as the sixth defendant. The pair are also suing "any persons who carried out or assisted in the scheme".  One of the plaintiffs, Chan, said she invested with JPEX after being led to believe that the platform was a licensed cryptocurrency exchange upon attending seminars and reading posts from social media influencer Lam Chok, according to the legal document.  She also claimed that she paid and transferred a total of HK$1.85 million to Chiu, intending to purchase USDT, also known as Tether, between July and August in 2023.  The pair found assets of more than 247,400 USDT were transferred away "within five minutes after each of the deposits was being made" without authorisation, and subsequently moved to "many other wallets of unknown holders" before they looked into their accounts on September 14. The plaintiffs are seeking to recover the lost funds and are asking the court to grant an injunction to bar the defendants to deal with the assets.  Joshua Chu, a lawyer handling the pair's claims, pointed to the far-reaching impacts of the civil action.  "While the criminal investigation into the perpetrators continues, victims should also pursue civil proceedings to recover their lost assets. This dual-track approach is crucial, as the police are unable to return any seized funds without a court order from the civil case," he said in a statement to RTHK.  "Notably, the findings from the civil proceedings may potentially bolster the parallel criminal investigation against the suspects, underscoring the importance of this multifaceted legal strategy for the victims." Lawmaker Johnny Ng, for his part, described the case as a "milestone", and that he understood that more victims have considered taking civil action.  "On my end, around 10 people have plans to make claims. Of course, I believe there might also be people who have yet to contact us [wanting to take action]," Ng said.