S'pore woman, 49, arrested in alleged 'Fun Coffee' ponzi scheme says she is 'victim' too, victims disagree

The 49-year-old woman who was arrested in the alleged "Fun Coffee" Ponzi scheme claimed that she is herself a victim, but others who have lost money to the scheme disagreed.

One victim pointed out that if the 49-year-old was truly a victim as she claimed, she would not have attempted to stop others from going to the police.

Woman claimed she lost over S$600,000

The woman, who declined to be named, reached out to Shin Min Daily News to lament her losses.

She told the Chinese-language paper that she had also lost the hard-earned money she invested into the scheme.

Additionally, she had also incurred losses of over S$600,000 because the café she operated was forced to pause operations after news about "Fun Coffee" broke.

Got to know of "Fun Coffee" through friend

The woman said that she got to know of "Fun Coffee" in September last year through a friend.

It started out with just meeting up for exercises, but she eventually got involved with creating introductory videos.

For each video she made, she was paid around S$100.

"At the start, I did it for fun. Plus, I know how to record and edit videos, and more and more people got roped in. That's how I got recognition from the 'boss'," the woman told Shin Min.

She added that she was gradually inducted into the circle and gained an understanding of the business model.

Joined after getting retrenched

The woman shared that she used to work as an engineer and was drawn by the company's business model.

After getting retrenched, she agreed to join "Fun Coffee" when the suggestion was made for her to open an outlet in Singapore at the start of 2026.

"Fun Coffee" operated a café featuring a coffee-making robot at 202 Jalan Besar, and claims to have assets of over US$1 billion and a team of over 5,000.

According to the woman, she had requested that the business be registered under the company's name, but she was told that it was complicated for foreigners.

As such, the business was registered under her name.

"The company paid for the renovation and rental, while I was in charge of daily operations," the woman said.

"Fun Coffee" application

According to the Singapore Police Force, users were told to download a "Fun Coffee" application and transfer cryptocurrency to a digital wallet.

Users could subscribe to various investment plans available on the application, which promised "unrealistically" high returns.

They were also offered additional commissions for recruiting new members.

Police said participants in Singapore were subsequently unable to withdraw their funds through the application.

The woman told Shin Min that this application launched in November 2025.

Those who downloaded the app received a US$20 (about S$25) reward.

Once users entered their particulars, they could log on to claim daily rewards.

"The application has a fitness tracker and coffee purchase function, among others. Investment was just one function," the woman said.

Tears in eyes

According to Shin Min, the woman had tears in her eyes during the interview.

She claimed to have invested over S$620,000 in a span of 10 months.

Now that the plan has gone bust and the café is unable to continue operations, all that has been lost.

"I did earn some interest, but I reinvested my earnings each time. Now, the account is empty, and the café has no customers," she laments.

Other victims call bluff

When Shin Min asked the woman to show details of the app and her bank account, she told reporters that the police had confiscated her phone.

Responding to the claims made by the woman, one victim, surnamed Xiao (transliteration), told Shin Min, "I don't believe her".

Xiao pointed out that if the woman were indeed a victim, she would not have stopped others from going to the police.

"She stopped going to work about two years ago. Her losses are probably mostly from her earnings. After all, she had acted as a consultant since November," Xiao commented.

Other victims allege that the 49-year-old is the "leader" in Singapore.

"I am not the only leader in Singapore, and I'm not the most senior. I also did not force anyone to invest," the woman claimed.

She was also adamant that she did not pocket funds.

She also said there are at least 500 investors in Singapore.

The woman added that while she had roped in some of the investors, she was not privy to whether these investors went on to recruit more people.

"Although there are about 500 people in the group, some are fake accounts. I'm not sure how many of them are fakes," the woman commented.

Lost contact with company "specialist"

"Fun Coffee" is purportedly headquartered in Vietnam's Phu Quoc.

The 49-year-old woman said that she had visited the company's location in Phu Quoc along with 20 others in November last year.

"We didn't know each other. We had gone to see the person in charge, and they explained to us the business model and plans," she shared.

"Things looked proper. Who knew it would end up like this," she continued.

The woman also claimed that she would liaise with the company's "specialist" every day via WhatsApp since the Jalan Besar outlet opened in May this year, reporting on the café's business.

She has been unable to contact this "specialist" since July 2026.

She also stopped receiving funds from the company for the café.