Mining Max launched its cryptocurrency MLM opportunity back in June.

Mining Max affiliates who invested $3200 were promised a two year ROI, purportedly generated via mining of ethereum.

As is the case with pretty much every cryptocurrency MLM opportunity, turns out that was a load of baloney.

An investigation into Mining Max by Korean authorities revealed the company had

developed software that could trick investors into believing virtual currency was being mined even if none was.

Mining Max had invested 75 billion won ($69.6 million USD) on operating mining rigs, however output was nowhere near enough to cover affiliate ROIs.

As per BehindMLM’s Mining Max Review, by a month or so after launch affiliates began reporting non-payment.

As the complaints began to pile up, Mining Max management went into hiding.

South Korean authorities launched an investigation.

That investigation lead to the arrest of over twenty Mining Max executives early last week.

Those arrested include Park Jung-woon, a popular Korean singer from the 1990s.

The investigation also revealed Mining Max primarily operated out of South Korea, however the company does appear to have had an office in Los Angeles, California.

Total investor losses stand at 270 billion won ($250.6 million USD), with Mining Max having duped around 18,000 investors globally.

Of those arrested, prosecutors charged seven Mining Max executives and 11 investors with fraud and violations of door-to-door sales law on Wednesday.

An addition three Mining Max affiliates were charged with embezzlement.

At the time of publication Korean authorities believe Mining Max management have laundered around 100 billion won ($92.8 million USD) out of the country.

The remaining 100 won appears to have been paid out to early Mining Max investors.

Despite having a significant presence in the US (Alexa estimate 70% of traffic to the Mining Max website originates out of the US), as of yet there’s no word on whether US authorities have launched their own investigation.