I Still Drive My Ferrari and Some of You Cannot Afford to Eat, Crypto Scammer Taunts Kenyans After Conning Them over Sh1 Billion

Cryptocurrency scammers stole more than Sh1 billion from thousands of Kenyan investors who were out to make quick money, according to a report by Nation.

Bitstream Circle, a Ponzi scheme designed by Kenyan and Chinese fraudsters, first appeared on the internet in December 2021 and promised investors a daily return of between five to 10 percent of the invested amount.

It soon gained over 10,000 followers on its Telegram page dubbed “Bt Elite Team” where one was required to deposit $20 (Sh2,340) to be added to the group, then assigned a mentor who would coach them on how to convert their shillings into crypto coins, trade, earn profit and withdraw their money.

Everything went well until March 13th this year when users started experiencing delays in withdrawals, with the company claiming it was upgrading its systems. 

The following day, the founder of the cryptocurrency wrote a nauseating message on the 10,914-member Telegram group taunting the investors.

“I still drive my Ferrari and some of you can’t afford to eat. You are a bunch of brainless races, see you on our next plan,” an administrator of the page wrote.

“Bye, haha. I am living a luxurious life with your dollars. If you have invited friends, wait to be killed by your recommenders. Idiots. There will be a time to meet.” 

Bitstream Circle then disappeared from the internet and its website, mobile applications and Telegram page were no longer accessible. A forensic analysis by Crypsense Digital Group showed the company conned people $10,048,350 (Sh1.18 billion) in just 97 days.

Bitstream Circle’s YouTube Page, the only digital footprint the company left, shows it was registered in the United Kingdom.

“Bitstream Circle Ltd is an active company incorporated on November 25, 2021 with the registered office in South Croydon, Greater London. There is one active director and one active secretary according to the latest confirmation statement submitted on November 25, 2021,” it says.

A search in the UK company registry revealed that the company was registered on November 25th last year through company number 13764417, with its role as “administration of financial markets”.

Bitstream Circle has one director named Qian Yang, a Chinese born on November 1986 who has 10,000 shares valued at £10,000 (Sh1.45 million), according to the registry. J&C Business (UK) Ltd is listed as the company’s secretary.

Bitstream Circle recruited a number of Kenyans as mentors and customer care agents in a move aimed at giving the company more credibility.

Nation managed to trace one of the recruitment agents by accessing the company’s deleted website through Archive. He used a pseudo name “Rebel Mond”.

When Nation reporter Vincent Achuka contacted the mobile number listed alongside the name “Rebel Mond”, the call went to a man named Emmanuel Kiprotich, who said he had also been hired online by a person he had never met called “Riaz”. Riaz then introduced him to a woman he only knows as Hellen whom he never met.

“I joined Bitstream Circle through a post I saw on Facebook. I was awarded $6 on my first task and the next $5. Since I had knowledge on how to use Binance, they made me an assistant,” said Kiprotich.

Kiprotich and two other recruits identified as David Kariuki and Lawrence Gift were part of a team whose task was to organize training seminars across the country to teach Kenyan youths about the new way to make millions of shillings without a sweat.