"SCARPAR": Ponzi Scheme or Legit?

[FINDINGSCAMMERS]

We were approached to look into a fundraising being conducted by a group out of Hong Kong calling themselves "SCARPAR" to see if it was a scam or legit. All we know at this point is that there are three guys involved: Chen Yin, (dba Long Shining), Andrew Fem, (dba Scarpar Holdings), and Steve Copplin.

If you've had any dealings with CHEN YIN, ANDREW FERN, STEVE COPPLIN or "SCARPAR" please reply to this post.

All replies will be held in strict confidence!​

[nomaxim]

Are you referring to that electric all terrain skateboard?
http://www.scarpar.com/

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22S...utf-8&oe=utf-8

It is a company out of Hong Kong.

It has also been trying to get off the ground since 2006 per this article at http://gizmodo.com/168174/scarpar-al...otorized-board

[FINDINGSCAMMERS]

Are you referring to that electric all terrain skateboard?
http://www.scarpar.com/

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22S...utf-8&oe=utf-8

It is a company out of Hong Kong.

It has also been trying to get off the ground since 2006 per this article at http://gizmodo.com/168174/scarpar-al...otorized-board

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/CONMA......-a094117849

Yes that's the one---do you know if it's being run by same Andrew Fern as the above link?

[FINDINGSCAMMERS]

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/CONMA......-a094117849

Same Andrew Fern?

[nomaxim]

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/CONMA......-a094117849

Same Andrew Fern?

Could be. But, I won't put money on it.
Per your link the guy would be 49. It is a fifteen year old story, and that's assuming the age is correct to begin with. Also, what happened in that court case? Was he found innocent or guilty and sent to prison? If guilty, is he still in prison?

A quick search on https://www.intelius.com shows a dozen Andrew Fern's in the US alone. Three are between the ages of 46 and 52. And five don't have any info on their age.

That may not even be a complete list. You may also have some errors (wrong age) and repeats there.

And looking at http://www.192.com there look to be at least three listed in Birmingham.

One of those at least appears to be a repeat going by the 'Other Occupants' listed. Note though that the age ranges for those two are different. And are those ages current or are they their ages on the dates listed?


You generally need more information to narrow that down. A middle initial, middle name would be even better. A DoB would be the most helpful.

Andrew Fern is not exactly a unique name. There could likely be dozens of them in the world.

[nomaxim]

You could also try doing some research at http://www.cr.gov.hk/. That's the Hong Kong business registry (it is available in English). It's much like Companies House in the UK or the business registrations that the Secretary's of State of the various States in the US have.
These are government websites by the way.

The free listings are rather basic. However, you can generally get more detailed information (Company officers for example, maybe even taxes paid statements) for a fee. The fee depends on the information you want.

I did a quick basic search and found only two companies registered in Hong Kong using the name 'Scarpar'.
The first one is the company I mentioned above that is working on the skateboard.

Interestingly enough, even though articles for that skateboard have been showing up for eleven years now. The company itself wasn't registered until 21NOV2014. It is also interesting that the other company (your 'Scarpar Holdings') was registered only a few weeks earlier on 5NOV2014.

PS.
Remember that Hong Kong is across the International Date Line from me. I found it rather humorous that the 'system clock' in my above images are giving tomorrows date.
Damn, I wish that worked with lottery numbers. LoL.

[FINDINGSCAMMERS]

Many thanks for the comprehensive reply---I'll be making use of your good tips for sure!!