The man who posed as the chief executive of the collapsed crypto scheme HyperVerse has confirmed he was paid to act the part, receiving 180,000 Thai baht (about A$7,500 or £4,000) over nine months and a free suit as payment.
Stephen Harrison, an Englishman living in Thailand who posed as chief executive Steven Reece Lewis for the launch of HyperVerse in late 2021 and early 2022, has told Guardian Australia he was “shocked” to learn the company had presented him as having fake credentials to promote the scheme.
He said he felt sorry for those who had lost money in relation to the scheme – which he said he had no role in – an amount Chainalysis estimates at US$1.3bn in 2022 alone.
“I am sorry for these people,” he said. “Because they believed some idea with me at the forefront and believed in what I said, and God knows what these people have lost. And I do feel bad about this.
“I do feel deeply sorry for these people, I really do. You know, it’s horrible for them. I just hope that there is some resolution. I know it’s hard to get the money back off these people or whatever, but I just hope there can be some justice served in all of this where they can get to the bottom of this.”
He said he wanted to make clear he had “certainly not pocketed” any of the money lost by investors.
Harrison, who at the time was a freelance television presenter engaged in unpaid football commentary, said he had been approached and offered the HyperVerse work by a friend of a friend. He said he was new to the industry and had been open to picking up more work and experience as a corporate “presenter”.
“I was told I was acting out a role to represent the business and many people do this,” Harrison said. He said he trusted his agent and accepted that. After reading through the scripts he said he was initially suspicious about the company he was hired to represent because he was unfamiliar with the crypto industry, but said he had been reassured by his agent that the company was legitimate.
He said he had also done some of his own online research into the organisation and found articles about the Australian blockchain entrepreneur and HyperTech chairman Sam Lee.
“I went away and I actually looked at the company because I was concerned that it could be a scam,” Harrison said. “So I looked online a bit and everything seemed OK, so I rolled with it.”
Lee founded the Australian bitcoin company Blockchain Global with Ryan Xu, which collapsed in 2021 owing creditors $58m. Lee and Xu have been referred to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for potential breaches of the Corporations Act in relation to Blockchain Global, but Asic has said it does not intend to take action at this time.
Harrison said he had been told in his second recording that he needed to use a fake name.
“I asked why, and they were like, ‘Well, you know, you’re an actor, you’re acting the role you’re presenting the business,’ and … my agent said, ‘Many people do this in the business. This is perfectly normal.’”
In the videos, Harrison spoke generally about the opportunities offered for people who invested in the HyperVerse but did not explicitly ask for funds or make any claims about potential returns.
He said he had only learned of the fake credentials that accompanied the launch presentation he featured in through Guardian Australia’s investigation that confirmed none of the organisations cited had any record of a Steven Reece Lewis.
This included claims that he held degrees from Leeds and Cambridge universities and had worked for more than 10 years in the fintech industry.
“I was absolutely shocked at what I saw,” Harrison said.
“I never went online and checked about Steven Reece Lewis. I looked on YouTube occasionally, way back when they put the presentations up, but apart from that I was detached from this role.
“When I read that in the papers, I was like, blooming heck, they make me sound so highly educated – I have GCSEs, I’m certainly not on that level. They painted a good picture of me but they never told me any of this.”
He said all of the other claimed qualifications and work experience cited in the presentation were also false.
After Guardian Australia’s report, a US-based YouTuber, Jack Gamble, revealed Harrison’s true identity. This prompted Harrison to come forward to share what he knew.
According to Harrison’s contract for the role, an unsigned copy of which has been seen by Guardian Australia, he was employed as “Presenter Talent” by an Indonesian-based talent agency called Mass Focus Ltd.
Guardian Australia can find no record of a company of this name on the Indonesian company register. Harrison said that aside from scripted online interactions he never spoke with anyone from HyperVerse, dealing solely with his local contact. He emphasised that he had no contact at any point with Lee or Xu.
The terms of the contract were for a three-month renewable retainer, during which he would be paid 20,000 Thai baht a month for a maximum of six hours work a month. Harrison said most months he worked for only one to two hours, with three videos in one month the most work he undertook. He was sent a script before each recording. At one point, he said, there was a plan to fly him to the US for an event, but this had never happened.
He was also provided with one wool and cashmere suit, two business shirts, two ties and a pair of shoes for the part.
He said the filming had taken place in makeshift studios in Bangkok, including at an apartment in the Ekkamai district and later at the Empire tower in Sathon.
Harrison said he had no oversight of the Twitter account run under the fake chief executive’s name, nor the messages of support for the scheme obtained from a clutch of celebrities, including the Apple founder Steve Wozniak and the actor Chuck Norris.
He said that after his contract was twice renewed, running from September 2021 to June 2022, he requested that the Twitter account be shut down.
The date of his final payslip coincided with the last date the Twitter account was active.
