'Bitcoin Formula' exposed

PETALING JAYA: Berjaya group founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan has blown the whistle on a dubious startup trading platform called "Bitcoin Formula", which has used his name and doctored photos to promote its business.
It came to Tan's attention that an article claiming he had invested in and was promoting Bitcoin Formula, together with some photographs, was being circulated on social media after a friend who saw it asked him if it would indeed be a good investment.
"How can it be a good investment when the operators have to resort to such dishonest ways like using my name in fake reports and doctored photographs to promote their business?" he said.
"I think anyone who invests in such a shady business will surely lose their money," said Tan, who urged the public not to be deceived by such posts on social media.
The article about the company, that purports to promote blockchain and crypto technologies, claimed Tan had donated RM500,000 to Bitcoin Formula, a supposed financial startup by young computer engineers developing an efficient trading platform.
The article was accompanied by a few photographs, one showing Tan allegedly awarding a cheque for RM500,000 to Bitcoin Formula for winning the "Project of the Year" prize in a computer engineering "hackathon" in Kuala Lumpur, and another picture of him apparently speaking about Bitcoin Formula at a social business summit.
Both pictures were in fact images altered with the use of photo-editing software, and had originally been taken by theSun in March 2014 and January last year.
The cheque presentation photo was actually of Tan presenting a RM500,000 award to representatives of Dharma Master Cheng Yen of the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation after she was named Better Malaysia Foundation's Personality of the Year in 2015.
The other image was taken when Tan was speaking at the Social Economic Forum that was held at the GK Enchanted Farm in Bulacan, in the Philippines.
A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia found that no company by the name of Bitcoin Formula exists.
Tan is apparently the latest prominent person whose name had been used by get-rich-quick scheme operators to scam unsuspecting people, and prominent tycoons like AirAsia founder Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and "Sugar King" Robert Kuok were among people whose names have been used by these scammers.
Tan also dismissed a Facebook article claiming that he will be donating RM525 million to Tabung Harapan Malaysia.
"There is absolutely no truth to either of these reports, that I believe have been put out by unscrupulous persons to deceive the public. I hope the public do not get fooled by these fake reports," he added.