Hebei High Court: Case Amount Exceeds 15 Million RMB, Man Sentenced to Five Years and Four Months for Illegal Fundraising Disguised as Metaverse Project

According to Odaily, the Hebei High Court has released a typical case of combating illegal fundraising, in which a man packaged investment projects under the guise of the "Metaverse" concept to promote virtual commodity investment products under the "Newmateworks" platform, associated with the "Yishang United Community," to the public. He induced individuals to invest and directly introduced 19 investors who poured a total of 15.3936 million RMB into the platform. Of this amount, 1.1014 million RMB has been returned, while 14.2922 million RMB remains outstanding. The court found that the case used emerging technology concepts like the "Metaverse" as a cover for fraudulent marketing, violating national financial management laws. The amount involved was substantial, and the actions constituted the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits. The defendant, Chen, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and fined.