Eight Arrested in Fun Coffee Fraud Investigation

An image circulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in July.

A purported Vietnam-based company that marketed itself as a health-conscious coffee investment brand is at the center of a cross-border cryptocurrency fraud investigation.

The operation, known as Fun Coffee, has left hundreds of investors in Hong Kong and Macao reporting financial losses, while a joint police operation has led to eight arrests, according to regional news reports and Hong Kong police. 

Fun Coffee claimed on its website that it was establishing headquarters on Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam, with more than $1 billion in assets and a team exceeding 5,000 people. Authorities in Hong Kong said people began participating in Fun Coffee investment programs in 2025.

Hong Kong police said their investigation found that the company generated no real profits and paid earlier investors with money collected from later ones, a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme.

On July 13, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong added Fun Coffee GCM Projects to its list of suspicious investment products.

Hong Kong Police Force Headquarters. Photo by Tksteven/Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 (CC BY-SA 2.5).

According to the Hong Kong Police Force’s Commercial Crime Bureau, Fun Coffee told investors it was developing advanced coffee-brewing equipment, “coffee-gene” optimization technology, and automated irrigation and fertilization systems.

In July, the company announced plans to expand into mainland China, claiming it had acquired a coffee plantation in Baoshan, Yunnan, while outlining future sales of roasted coffee, drip bags, capsules and ready-to-drink products.

Investors were told that cryptocurrency deposits held for longer periods and in larger amounts would generate higher returns, with police saying the company advertised annualized returns as high as 278%. 

On July 20, the company’s mobile app stopped functioning, investors were unable to withdraw funds and customer service went unanswered, according to multiple Chinese news outlets.

Public police reports put the registered losses at approximately HK$94 million in Hong Kong and 3.6 million patacas in Macao, or roughly US$12.4 million combined.

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