Czech MP Nacher invested hundreds of thousands of crowns in cryptocurrency now labelled a Ponzi scheme

Czech parliament member Patrik Nacher put a substantial sum of money into PlatonCoin, a cryptocurrency offered by the company Platon Life. Its founders — a married couple, Daniel and Julia Tanner — along with two other individuals, now stand accused of investment fraud.

According to Prague prosecutors, Platon Life offered clients the chance to buy PlatonCoin tokens, promising high returns. In reality, the indictment alleges, the money raised was never invested at all — instead, the scheme's founders used it for their own purposes. "In effect, they deliberately and knowingly misled their clients, using the funds they collected to enrich themselves or others," said Aleš Cimbala, spokesperson for the Prague prosecutor's office, in an earlier statement. In exchange, clients received tokens that ultimately had no real value whatsoever.

Nacher, who has spent years publicly warning citizens about financial fraud and campaigning for financial literacy, put money into the project five years ago on the advice of an acquaintance — an IT entrepreneur from Vsetín whom he'd met on social media. The two are still in touch, and the MP says he's convinced the advice was given in good faith, with no malicious intent behind it. "Here I am teaching people about financial literacy, warning everyone else — and I ended up being the fool myself," the MP admitted.

One reason he decided to invest was the company founder's frequent media appearances. "There was an interview on iDnes, a partnership with Microsoft, a trip to the United Arab Emirates. He was constantly in the public eye in the media, which is unusual — normally people don't show their face if they're trying to con someone," Nacher explained.

Before putting in hundreds of thousands of crowns, the MP personally met with the owner of Platon Life and initially invested a small test amount. He says that within the first year, it grew by 15 to 20 percent.

Yet as early as 2017 — before Nacher had made any investment — the Czech National Bank and independent experts were already warning about the risks of this kind of cryptocurrency. The scheme was described as a classic financial pyramid (a Ponzi scheme), in which a company uses part of clients' money for itself and pays out returns using funds raised from new investors.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz