The cryptocurrency industry has a bad rap when it comes to scams and avenues for potential loss: crypto has been referred to as a Ponzi scheme; exchange executives are corrupt; cyber crime is at an all-time high; and markets are flooded with claims of manipulation tactics such as wash trading and spoofing. Simply put: crypto can be a risky tool for investment if investors are not careful.

Sometimes, though, even the most careful investors still end up being scammed, as was the case with unfortunate investors who are out potentially up to $35M in funds after Sky Mining’s CEO mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

According to Vietnamese media outlet VnExpress, board members and investors in Ho Chi Minh City-based Sky Mining haven’t been able to contact the firm’s CEO Le Minh Tam.

Investors claimed that upon visiting the company’s main office, they discovered the building was closed and there was no evidence of the company’s branding left behind. Worse yet, all 600 mining rigs promised to investors has been taken by a group claiming to be maintenance workers. Investors were left scratching their heads.

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Both investors and former members of the company’s board suspect that Tam fled to the US with the $35 million in investor funds. Former deputy chairman Le Minh Hieu formed another temporary board with the goal of supporting investors and dividing the company’s remaining assets.

Sky Mining CEO Le Minh Tam reportedly posted in a Facebook group for investors apologizing, and explaining that the value and profitability of the mining rigs had dropped significantly due to the market dynamics. He said he has no choice but to “stay hidden from public to protect my life.”

Tam fled because he was receiving death threats from rightfully upset investors. Sky Mining took investments of as much as $5,000 per mining rig, to be used to mine for cryptocurrency from one of Sky Mining’s storage centers across Vietnam. The company was said to have acquired over 7,000 of these rigs.