Absolute Energy executive Qiu Zhih Hao reoffended during bail, using cryptocurrencies and lending platforms to falsely claim an annual interest rate of up to 84%, while actually issuing junk coins. Prosecutors uncovered that the scale of fund-raising skyrocketed to 5 billion yuan, and he has been detained without bail.
Last year, Taiwanese prosecutors uncovered new developments in the “Absolute Energy Group” fraud case. The responsible person, Qiu Zhih Hao, was previously prosecuted for illegal fund-raising and faced a heavy sentence of 18 years. However, after the court granted bail, prosecutors discovered another case, revealing that Qiu Zhih Hao used cryptocurrencies and lending platforms to expand the scale of fund-raising.
According to reports from The Reporter and United News Network, law enforcement recently launched a large-scale search, detaining Qiu Zhih Hao and nine others. After interrogation, prosecutors determined that the defendants violated the Banking Act and the Anti-Fraud Crime Prevention Act, and posed a high risk of evidence tampering and fleeing. They applied for detention and non-contact orders, which the Taipei District Court approved on January 31.
Investigations found that Qiu showed no remorse after being granted bail, but instead continued to commit crimes during his free period. The case amount increased from over 200 million yuan to 5 billion yuan, with nearly a thousand victims estimated.
The prosecutor’s special task force delved deeper and found that Absolute Energy Group had started planning as early as 2021, issuing cryptocurrencies called EGT and TBT, and developing DeFi (Decentralized Finance) lending platforms.
They publicly claimed that investors purchasing these cryptocurrencies could sign “smart contracts” on the platform, lending funds to other investors, with guaranteed annual interest rates between 36% and 84%.
In addition, Qiu Zhih Hao and others not only promoted cryptocurrencies but also claimed that “mining” was necessary, requiring sales staff to promote mining machines to investors, and promising dividends based on sales volume.
However, investigations revealed that the so-called high-yield investment targets were mostly worthless junk coins, and the entire operation was still a scam to extract funds.
The project team suspects that Qiu Zhih Hao, eager to raise funds through new schemes after bail, was likely worried about facing severe sentencing in the previous case and attempted to raise funds for escape before imprisonment.
Initially, Absolute Energy claimed to invest in clean energy technology, designing Class A and Class B preferred stocks, claiming annual interest rates of up to 25% and 42%, emphasizing capital preservation and high profits.
At that time, prosecutors found that the group was not engaged in actual profitable business activities but was operating a Ponzi scheme using “paying old investors with new funds,” defrauding nearly 200 million yuan from 199 victims.
Prosecutors filed charges against Qiu Zhih Hao and 16 others at the end of last year, seeking over 18 years of imprisonment for Qiu. After the case was transferred to court, 10 people, including Qiu, were granted bail.
Unexpectedly, Qiu Zhih Hao exploited the loophole in judicial procedures to shift the scam target from preferred stocks to cryptocurrencies, causing more investors to be victimized. Currently, law enforcement has detained related individuals and will continue to investigate the flow of funds to determine if there are other unexploded cases.
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This content is compiled by Crypto Agent from various sources, reviewed and edited by “Crypto City.” It is still in training, so there may be logical biases or informational errors. The content is for reference only and should not be considered investment advice.