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Brenda Chunga, 43, of Severna Park, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud for her role as a promoter of HyperFund, also known as HyperTech, HyperCapital, HyperVerse, and HyperNation, US Attorney Erek Barron announced.
The plea came just four days after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Sam Lee, 35, an Australian citizen living in the United Arab Emirates, for the platform’s creation. Co-conspirator Rodney Burton, aka “Bitcoin Rodney,” 54, Miami, Florida, was also charged as an alleged promoter.
“The level of alleged fraud here is staggering,” Barron said. “Whether it’s cryptocurrency fraud, or any other financial frauds, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This office and our law enforcement partners will hold perpetrators accountable for these and other fraud schemes.”
Court documents say the trio worked to sell investment contracts to the public through HyperFund’s online investment platform between June 2020 and November 2022.
The platform’s promotional materials made various false claims, including that those who purchased its “memberships” would receive between 0.5 and 1 percent daily rewards until investments were doubled or tripled.
Furthermore, to convince investors that the platform could make the payments, HyperFund allegedly claimed that they would be partially disbursed from non-existent large-scale crypto mining revenues.
According to the plea agreement and other court documents, Chunga, aka “Bitcoin Beautee,” led online investor meetings, including in Maryland, to promote the platform’s investment programs and tell attendees, potential investors, about the alleged returns their investments could earn.
She admitted to personally receiving at least $3 million from her participation in the conspiracy.
As part of the plea agreement, Chunga is required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which the parties agree is at least $3 million, but “could be significantly higher,” Barron said. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
“Today’s charges are a testament to the incredible work of HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force,” acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York added.
“I commend our law enforcement partners, including those at HSI Baltimore, for their outstanding collaboration. HSI will continue to protect American investors from financial predators.”
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