Transcript
Despite the dramatic arrest of OneCoin's leader at an American airport in March, the company had managed to stay out of the limelight in the Pacific.
That changed last Thursday, when Samoa's Central Bank said Samoan businesses, individuals and churches had been caught up in a multi-billion dollar scam.
The revelations add to mounting scrutiny on cryptocurrencies - a global industry of largely unregulated digital assets.
The Central Bank's acting-governor, Gilbert Wongsin, says hundreds of Samoans have invested money in OneCoin, despite a ban in place locally since last year.
"It's something that people need to have a good understanding of what it is all about. This is one of the efforts that the Central Bank is working on. To make sure that not only the people of Samoa but the financial system is not exploited to the point that there are a lot of risks."
The Central Bank said last week that OneCoin had managed to circumvent the ban by funnelling millions of dollars through New Zealand.
The bank alleges the company used at least two churches with branches in Samoa and New Zealand as investment vehicles.
Mr Wongsin says there are active investigations into the Samoa Worship Centre and the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church.
He says these will include looking at whether they breached Samoan anti-money laundering laws by trading OneCoin in Samoa.
A pastor with the Samoa Worship Centre, Josh Seiuli, says the church is innocent.
"Honest to god, we never done any transfer or any transfer action using Worship Centre accounts and I think already it's in the hand of a lawyer in the team of the church ... they are defaming the church name but we never done any such thing like that."
Mr Seiuli estimates roughly 500 Worship Centre parishioners in Samoa have invested in OneCoin.
But he says most people, including himself, did so before the Central Bank imposed a ban on OneCoin transactions last May.
An Auckland-based representative of the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church declined to comment.
But according to one expert, OneCoin's utilisation of churches is part of a series of cryptocurrency scams targeting deprived populations.
Campbell Pentney from Auckland law firm Bell Gully says Pacific and Māori communities are often the first port of call.
"In these communities there is an enhanced sense of family and community bonds and with that comes a very strong sense of trust. And of course, trust can be exploited by these scams."
The Bulgaria-based OneCoin has not responded to requests for comment but has maintained it's a safe and reliable investment.
