From crypto promoter to fugitive: who is Hong Kong’s ‘Coin Young Master’ Wong Ching-kit?

Wong, 30, was one of the influencers promoting the JPEX cryptocurrency trading platform, implicated in one of Hong Kong’s biggest fraud cases

Reading Time:2 minutes

Wong Ching-kit is wanted for one count of fraud and two counts of theft in Hong Kong. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 3:10pm, 25 Jul 2024Updated: 3:41pm, 25 Jul 2024

A global manhunt is under way for a Hong Kong cryptocurrency promoter and his associate, whose names were placed on Interpol’s wanted list on Wednesday. But how did the 30-year-old go from a swimming instructor to allegedly one of the city’s biggest crypto scammers?

Wong Ching-kit, known as “Coin Young Master”, is wanted for one count of fraud and two counts of theft in Hong Kong. His associate, Mok Tsun-ting, 26, is wanted for two counts of money laundering.

Shrouded in controversy, the “Coin Young Master” has been known for his flamboyance and legal entanglements.

Wong was one of the influencers promoting the JPEX cryptocurrency trading platform, which was behind the city’s biggest-ever alleged financial fraud involving HK$1.43 billion (US$183 million).

He removed all the relevant YouTube videos after the authorities ordered influencers to cease promoting the platform.

His associate Mok, meanwhile, was arrested in September last year in connection with the JPEX case for his suspected link with “JP-EX Crypto Asset Platform Pty”.

Mok was later released on bail.