Stefan Qin
Australian founder of the Virgil Sigma and VQR crypto hedge funds. He pleaded guilty to securities fraud after draining a fund that claimed ~$90M, and was sentenced in 2021 to 7.5 years in prison and $54.8M forfeiture.
Also known as: Stefan He Qin
Bio
Stefan He Qin, an Australian national, founded and operated the Virgil Sigma Fund (2017) and the VQR Multistrategy Fund (2020), marketed as crypto "arbitrage" strategies. The SEC and SDNY said he stole investor capital for personal use and lied about the funds' value and performance. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Qin pleaded guilty to securities fraud in February 2021 and was sentenced in September 2021 to 90 months (7.5 years) in prison, three years of supervised release, and $54,793,532 in forfeiture. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
HEX / PulseChain (Richard Heart)ProjectsCrypto projects (HEX, PulseChain, PulseX) created by Richard Heart (Richard Schueler). In July 2023 the U.S. SEC sued him for offering unregistered securities that raised $1B+ and for allegedly misappropriating ~$12M for luxury goods (including a 555-carat diamond). A court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of U.S. jurisdiction; there was no finding of wrongdoing and Heart denies the allegations.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
