South Korean authorities are investigating a fraudulent ICO allegedly organized by the Shinil Group (Shinil). The company collected money to lift the sunken ship “Dmitry Donskoy”, which had gold worth $ 130 billion.

County Sheriff’s office got interested in the activities of the company and issued the ban on its investment. A case was initiated on the fact of fraud.

The cruiser of the Russian Empire “Dmitry Donskoy” sank 113 years ago, and according to some reports there was gold worth 130 billion dollars on board.

The Shinil Group company organized an ICO, designed to collect funds from investors to lift the ship from the bottom. To encourage people to buy their cryptocurrency, Shinil promised the subsequent exchange of coins for gold from the ship.

In total, about 1 thousand investors were attracted, after which the director of the company Choi Yong-seok said that there was no accurate evidence that the ship had at least some valuable things.

The results of the Wall Street Journal study showed that 19% of ICOs is suspected of fraud. Signs of deceptive or fraudulent practices were detected in 271 out of 1450 projects. A number of suspicious ICOs is already closed through complaints to the court or through regulators. According to the study, investors have invested 273 million dollars in scam projects.