A 20-year-old pleaded guilty to cheating 7 of his friends of more than $330,000 in an investment scam (he was 16 years old at the time of the offence).
He then spent the money on online gambling, as well as buying items used in online games.
He pleaded guilty on 16 August to three counts of cheating three people – the accused cannot be identified or named because he was under 18 when he committed the offences.
Four other similar charges will be considered during his sentencing, and he is set to return to court on 23 August, after probation and informative training reports were called.
Background
He had claimed that he made money from trading bitcoin, and told his schoolmates (who were 17 years old at the time) that he would help them invest in the foreign exchange and cryptocurrency markets.
He also “guaranteed” them fixed returns if they invested in the markets through him.
The 20-year-old (who was 16 at the time) had wanted some of the money to buy virtual items for the online game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which he was intending to sell.
He decided to lie to his friends because he knew that they wouldn’t give him the money.
The victims were cheated for a total of $332,067.
They (the victims) then lodged police reports when they didn’t receive the returns on their “investment” that the youth had promised them.
Investment scam
One of the victims had given him $106,050 over 26 occasions between 8 May 2018 and 11 August 2018, and the accused then gave him $40,870 as his “investment returns”.
Another victim who was a classmate of the accused, gave him $188,847 over 35 occasions between January 2018 and August 2018, and the accused also gave him $40,695 as his “investment returns” as well.
The third victim, gave him $5,000, but didn’t receive any of the “investment returns”.