The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) issued a securities fraud warning on March 24th against Crown Global Limited. The regulator stated the company is not registered in Ontario to trade securities, a requirement for all such businesses operating within the province. Operating without this registration constitutes securities fraud.
Crown Global appears to be a reincarnation of the collapsed Crypto Crown Ponzi scheme. The company is soliciting investments of $27,500. Investors are promised an 18.5% return per month for the initial six months, followed by a 22.5% monthly return for the subsequent six months. These promised returns are extraordinarily high and characteristic of fraudulent investment operations.
Traffic analysis from SimilarWeb showed a rise in visits to Crown Global's website between November and December. However, recruitment outside the United Kingdom seems to have faltered. In December 2022, traffic to the original Crypto Crown website originated from the United States (30%), the UK (21%), Spain (16%), and France (15%). The UK traffic saw a notable increase of 45% month-on-month, while US traffic decreased by 20% and French traffic by 31%.
Crypto Crown was previously linked to Canada through Crypto Crown Inc., a Canadian shell company. This entity was registered using a UPS address and was dissolved in October 2022, shortly after Crypto Crown's collapse. A search for Crown Global yielded no immediate results connecting it to Canada.
It remains uncertain if Crown Global is currently operated from Canada. Regardless, Canadian securities regulators have taken notice of this revived scheme. In addition to the OSC's warning, the Alberta Securities Commission added Crown Global to its Investment Caution List in February 2023.
Victims of investment fraud can seek assistance from the Canadian Securities Administrators' investor protection program.