Reform UK councillor promoted collapsed $1.9bn HyperVerse

politicsNov 7, 202632471

Susan Lawrence, elected as a Reform UK councillor on Wolverhampton city council, sits on the authority's audit and risk committee which oversees governance and financial reporting for a multimillion-pound budget. Lawrence was one of the main UK promoters of the HyperVerse cryptocurrency scheme that US court documents described as a "pyramid and Ponzi scheme" that cheated investors worldwide out of about $1.89bn (£1.41bn). The HyperVerse network spread from 2020 to 2022 and its collapse left many investors unable to access funds, with some reporting suicidal feelings and cases of self-harm. Lawrence continued to promote HyperVerse and later iterations after the UK Financial Conduct Authority issued a 2021 consumer warning telling people to avoid the firm. In 2022 Lawrence addressed concerned HyperVerse community members who said they could not withdraw investments; she also worked with UK promoter Desmond Amey and was filmed meeting HyperVerse co-founder Sam Lee in Dubai. Sam Lee was charged in the US in 2024 with civil and criminal offences related to the schemes; Lawrence has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. A Reform UK spokesperson said Lawrence lost her pension and tens of thousands of pounds on the scheme and believed she was a victim.

Anti-Reform

@antireform.bsky.social

"Reform UK councillor promoted collapsed $1.9bn ‘Ponzi scheme’ HyperVerse that left victims suicidal" "Susan Lawrence, elected to Wolverhampton city council, sits on committee overseeing financial reporting of multimillion-pound budget" www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

2126d ago

Karl5

Why are fascists always criminals

ANZAC4

DeformUK (a company limited by guarantee) is itself a Ponzi scheme according to local taxi drivers...

Jason2

Another crooked Reform councillor? Who would have thought it… 🤔

Cornish Skipper #FBPE #RejoinEU 🇪🇺🔶🌹💚💙

@cornishskipper.wsocial.eu

Susan Lawrence “who promoted a notorious cryptocurrency scam has been elected as a Reform UK councillor & now sits on the audit & risk committee of Wolverhampton city council…“pyramid &Ponzi scheme” that cheated investors worldwide out of a “staggering” £1.41bn” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

936d ago

Alastair #FBPE 🇪🇺🇵🇸 🇺🇦🇨🇦9

Once again Reform proves they are a magnet for crooks, perverts and violence. And the clinically stupid.

Chris Smith7

The only practical purpose of Crypto is crime. How is she not in jail?

Syd Barhey Esq. FCA. #FBPE3

Another day and yet another Reform Councillor involved in wrongdoing and grift. When, oh when, will that 20% begin to see they are being had ?

Calèsiano3

Of course she is. Could anybody with integrity, principles and no dodgy past even consider standing for Deform?

RichardTh #FBPE2

Vote against the people. Reward scammers, crooks and millionaires. Shroud it all in a blanket of xenophobia. That’s Reform

slowlydrowning.bsky.social1

Reform following their usual m.o.

Quoting this

Paul Bernal99

The thing is, pretty much every cryptocurrency ‘scheme’ is a scam. People need to be more aware of that.

His Bark Materials🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌌17

Every time I see a story about crypto I’m viscerally reminded of the time Albania devolved into civil war over the entire economy having become a series of pyramid schemes en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Al...

kaybell27.bsky.social7

You seriously can't make this stuff up!

Andy Brown

@andybrown1951.bsky.social

When a Reform Councillor pushes crypto it turns out that only the early investors make money and the rest get scammed. Never a good idea to be one of their mugs! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

476d ago

Will Jennings📉🗳️

@drjennings.bsky.social

Is there any public data on the rate of scandals per councillor for each party? Reform seem to have an awful lot of scandals lately.

406d ago

Cllr Brian Wernham

@brianwernham.bsky.social

"Lawrence, who worked with a fraudster whose company was later forcibly shut down by the UK high court, participated in lengthy promotional videos and webinars to market the project" www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

116d ago

fife4europe #FBPE #RejoinEU

@fife4europe.bsky.social

With a Reform councillor sitting on an audit committee after promoting the HyperVerse pyramid scheme that ruined victims worldwide, why trust populists with public money? A party built on slogan politics lacks basic standards and accountability. #ElectoralReform

116d ago

Kasvismafioso

@kasvismafioso.bsky.social

Onko mitään "kansallismielisempää" kuin huijata kansalaisilta rahat ja ajaa heidät itsemurhan partaalle? #ReformUK #HyperVerse #ponzihuijaus

186d ago

Saint Helena Island Info

@shislandinfo.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Please could someone identify to me one single member of Reform UK who is not corrupt and not a racist?

156d ago

European News

@eunews.social

Reform UK councillor promoted collapsed $1.9bn ‘Ponzi scheme’ HyperVerse that left victims suicidal A woman who promoted a notorious cryptocurrency scam has been elected as a Reform UK councillor and now sits on the audit and risk committee of a major city council.

56d ago

Sam Coleridge

@samcoleridge.bsky.social

"Hyperverse" was a tried and tested MLM scam, crypto mining, "passive income" etc. The UK "franchise" was run by Desmond Selase Amery, whose company had disappeared millions before being shut down, insolvent, in 2022. Mr Amery won a prize in 2025 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

46d ago

Jim Caris

@jimcaris.eurosky.social

21st-century right-wing politicians are just a bunch of scams wearing a trench coat www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

46d ago

tarna68.bsky.social

@tarna68.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Just another wilted female Reform councillor Never should she be where she is ! Its another embassing tale of Reforms vetting services which seems to prefer delinquent individuals from those with Integrity & Morals ! Reform is lacking in both !

16d ago

Artm💫💫n

@legoutervivre111.bsky.social

In a 2022 presentation, Lawrence addressed members of the HyperVerse community who were concerned they could no longer access their invested funds. #Lawrence, who worked with a fraudster whose company was later forcibly shut down by the UK high court, participated

26d ago

Malty but nice 🥃😻🐧

@artbookreview.bsky.social

Hmm. At the very least, it looks like poor judgment. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

16d ago

Pooh 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇨🇦 🇩🇰

@poohbearcorner.bsky.social

Reform UK 'Susan Lawrence was one of the main UK promoters of the HyperVerse cryptocurrency scheme, which was named in US court documents as an alleged “pyramid and Ponzi scheme” that cheated investors worldwide out of a “staggering” $1.89bn (£1.41bn).' Really? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

16d ago

1 source

theguardian.comReform UK councillor promoted collapsed $1.9bn ‘Ponzi scheme’ HyperVerse that left victims suicidal

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Reform UK councillor promoted collapsed $1.9bn HyperVerse

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