Have you ever had someone you trusted pull you aside and tell you about an opportunity that sounded too good to ignore, but somehow still felt safe?

It wasn’t a cold message or an online ad, it was someone close to you, already involved, already earning, already confident enough that you didn’t feel the need to question it too deeply.

That’s how most people end up inside these schemes. Not through greed. Not through stupidity. Through trust. You see someone you know doing it. You hear them talk about results, freedom, and timing. You tell yourself that if it were dangerous, they wouldn’t be involved. And before you really understand what’s happening, you find yourself explaining it to others, repeating the same reassurances that worked on you.

You don’t think of it as recruiting.
You think of it as helping.

And that’s the moment people find themselves trapped — not just financially, but emotionally — because walking away now means admitting something you’re not ready to face.

“I saw you as a troublemaker at first. Someone trying to ruin a good thing. It took losing access to my money to realise you were trying to warn us.”

How This Investigation Began

The email that started this investigation didn’t accuse anyone. It didn’t threaten legal action. It didn’t demand answers.

It asked for help.

The woman who contacted me is in her late sixties. A widow. Living on a pension. Still working where she can. She asked that her identity be protected, not because she had done anything wrong, but because things were starting to feel unsafe — not just financially, but socially.

She had joined CR GROUP LLC, operating through UICEX, after being introduced by someone she trusted. The opportunity was framed as simple. Copy-and-paste trades. Signals provided. No experience required. A system that supposedly removed risk and replaced it with consistency.

She didn’t go all in. She tested it carefully. She followed instructions. She even managed to withdraw money early on.

That early withdrawal mattered more than she realised.

Because when withdrawals later stopped, her focus — like many others — didn’t return to the money she originally invested. It stayed fixed on the balance she was being shown. The number that made her believe she had earned something.

That belief is where this story turns.

When “Temporary” Becomes Permanent

By mid-December, members were told withdrawals were temporarily paused.

Not cancelled.
Not denied.
Just delayed.

The explanations sounded reasonable at first:

  • Christmas bonuses being processed
  • Platform upgrades underway
  • Alleged fraudulent activity by unnamed users
  • Assurances that everything would resume shortly

Then the rules changed.

Members were told they needed to pay a 20% “verification” amount, calculated on their account balance, before they could withdraw anything at all. They were given a deadline. Miss it, and their funds would be locked for years.

That was the moment many people quietly realised something was very wrong.

The Balance Is Not Your Money

This is where people get stuck, and it’s why many still aren’t sure whether they’ve been scammed.

Most victims are no longer thinking about the money they originally deposited. They’re thinking about the balance displayed on the screen.

That balance feels real.
It feels earned.
It feels owed.

But it isn’t money sitting in an account.

It is simply a number controlled by the same system now demanding more money from you.

Once a platform requires payment to access your own funds, you need to understand this clearly:

  • You are no longer a customer
  • The balance is not proof of profit
  • The payment is not “verification”
  • The pressure is the point

At that stage, you are being tested — not verified.

The Questions Nobody Would Answer

As panic spread, the first red flags didn’t come from outsiders. They came from inside the group chats.

Members began asking reasonable questions.

Why punish everyone for alleged wrongdoing by a few?
Why not ban the accounts accused of fraud?
Why demand more money after blocking withdrawals?
Why are new people still being encouraged to join?

Those questions were never answered clearly.

Instead, communication shifted.

The Move to BonChat — and Why That Matters

As withdrawals became harder and questions increased, members were told to leave Telegram and move to a platform called BonChat.

It was framed as an upgrade. More secure. More private. Better protection.

But the timing mattered.

The move didn’t happen when things were stable.
It happened when people started asking questions.

BonChat is not a widely used messaging platform. It offers very little transparency around message retention, moderation, or record-keeping. What it does allow is strong central control over conversations.

After the move, members reported:

  • Messages disappearing
  • Entire discussion threads vanishing
  • Their own posts no longer visible
  • Official announcements remaining untouched

This wasn’t a technical glitch.

It was environment control.

When a scheme begins to collapse, evidence becomes dangerous. Conversations that once reassured people become liabilities. Moving everyone into a platform where history can be quietly erased is not about security.

It’s about controlling what survives.

Legitimate businesses don’t need to erase their own communications.
Scams do.

There Is No Trading — and That’s the Hardest Part to Accept

One of the reasons people struggle to accept they’ve been scammed is because they believe something must have been happening in the background.

They saw:

  • Charts moving
  • Trades being placed
  • Balances rising and falling
  • Early withdrawals succeed

So it feels wrong to hear that there was no real trading.

But the “trading” in schemes like CR GROUP LLC (UICEX) exists for one reason only: to build trust.

When you are told to copy and paste trades, you are not participating in a strategy. You are being kept busy. You are being conditioned to believe effort equals legitimacy. The system needs you engaged, checking in, following instructions, feeling involved.

The charts don’t need to be real.
The signals don’t need to be profitable.
The balance doesn’t need to represent money that exists.

All it needs to do is look believable.

Early withdrawals are not proof of success. They are marketing. They are how confidence spreads from one person to the next.

The real product is not trading.

The real product is recruitment.

  • Your trust is leveraged
  • Your relationships are monetised
  • Your credibility does the selling

That is why these schemes damage friendships and families. Leaving doesn’t just mean losing money — it means admitting you pulled someone else into it.

Trading was never the point.

A Young Investor and a Narrow Escape

Around the same time, I received material involving a young New Zealand investor, whose identity is protected.

He was introduced to the opportunity by Hohepa Patea.

The messages show structured onboarding. Documents sent. Groups requested. Instructions given. Trades celebrated.

This wasn’t curiosity.
It was guided participation.

When the young investor later chose to step away, the tone changed immediately.

Suddenly it was about loyalty. About integrity. About wasting someone’s time. He was told the business must be legitimate because people had withdrawn money before.

That argument appears in every Ponzi collapse.

Early withdrawals do not prove safety.
They prove the trap is working.

Silence Is How These Schemes Survive

The young investor managed to exit.

What followed is something I see repeatedly.

He was advised by his own father to keep quiet.

Not because nothing had happened — but because speaking out felt risky.

People don’t stay silent because they’re stupid. They stay silent because they are conflicted. They don’t want to embarrass friends. They don’t want to admit they were wrong. They don’t want to be blamed for “ruining it” for others.

Silence becomes damage control.

People Are Still Promoting This

Despite withdrawals failing and confusion spreading, promotion continued.

Some people went full-time.
Some quit jobs.
Some reportedly helped establish a physical office in Wellington.

Once someone builds their identity and income around a scheme, walking away becomes harder than recruiting one more person.

That doesn’t excuse it.

But it explains why this keeps happening.

The Wellington Office Problem

This is where the online illusion spills into the real world.

As CR GROUP LLC (UICEX) began to unravel, victims repeatedly referred to leadership structures that were meant to provide reassurance and direction. One name that surfaced consistently was the Mantis Group, presented to members as a place where guidance, explanations, and decisions were supposedly coming from.

For many participants, this was where clarity was expected when withdrawals stopped and rules began changing.

What they experienced instead was silence.

Questions were raised in group chats. Concerns were shared privately. Requests for explanation were made. And again and again, people were told to be patient, to trust the process, or to stop listening to so-called “negative voices”.

That dynamic matters.

Because once a scheme creates leaders, those leaders are no longer just participants. They become gatekeepers of belief.

Multiple victims have identified Ryan Alexander Wall as being associated with the Mantis Group and positioned as someone with influence or authority within the CR GROUP LLC (UICEX) ecosystem. As part of this investigation, I also attempted to contact Ryan Wall directly to seek comment and clarification.

Those calls were not answered.

No return calls were received.
No response was provided.
No public explanation was issued as withdrawals failed and panic spread.

To be clear, belief alone does not make someone a criminal. People can genuinely convince themselves a scheme is real. But when someone occupies a leadership role — formally or informally — silence becomes a decision.

That silence did not protect victims.
It protected the illusion.

At the same time, belief in the scheme was being reinforced in more tangible ways. People didn’t just talk about leadership — they built around it. Meetings were held. Roles were assumed. And in at least one case, a physical office in Wellington was established.

An office changes how people perceive risk.

It makes the operation feel real.
It makes questioning feel unreasonable.
It makes walking away harder.

An office does not make a scam legitimate.
It makes the emotional cost of leaving much higher.

And for those still inside at the time, the absence of leadership clarity forced a choice: start questioning everything, or defend the system themselves.

Many chose the latter — because admitting the truth would also mean admitting they had helped pull others into it.

This Is the Same Scam as BG WEALTH SHARING

Different name.
Same mechanics.

Signal-based trading. Private group hierarchies. Mentors and “professors”. Early withdrawals to build trust. Sudden rule changes. Locked withdrawals. A demand for more money. Platform migration. Blame shifted onto users.

BG WEALTH SHARING followed this path.

CR GROUP LLC / UICEX followed the same path.

If nothing changes, it will appear again under a new name, using the same psychology.

The Second Trap: “Recovery”

This is where many victims are right now.

Withdrawals blocked.
Balances frozen.
Hope not quite gone.

Someone reaches out, calm and confident, claiming they can help. They talk about tracing funds. Unlocking accounts. Special access.

At first, it feels like relief.

Then come the requests:

  • A fee to get started
  • ID to “verify ownership”
  • Wallet details to “check transactions”
  • Eventually, seed phrases or wallet access

By that point, the person believes they are recovering money — not risking more.

And then it happens again.

The messages stop.
The balance never moves.
And whatever was left is gone.

There is no legitimate crypto recovery process that requires upfront payment, wallet access, or seed phrases.

If someone offers that, they are not helping you.

They are targeting you again.

Why “Testing the Waters” Is Still Dangerous

Some people tell themselves they were careful. That they only tested with small amounts.

But the first loss isn’t always money.

It’s control.

Once you hand over ID, install obscure apps, join controlled groups, or connect wallets, you’ve exposed yourself. Even if you escape financially, your data and relationships may still be exploited later.

There is no safe way to “test” a recruitment scam.

If You’re Still Asking Yourself

If you’re reading this and asking whether you’ve just been ripped off, ask yourself one question:

Were you asked to send more money to access your own money?

If the answer is yes, then the answer to your question is also yes.

Not because you’re careless.
Not because you didn’t research enough.

But because the system was designed to keep you believing until the moment it stopped paying.

Why This Is Being Written

This blog isn’t here to shame victims.

It’s here to stop the next version.

Because this structure will reappear. With a new name. A new app. And the same people.

If you were involved in CR GROUP LLC, UICEX, CR Wealth, or BG WEALTH SHARING, and you have evidence — messages, instructions, recordings, wallet requests — your experience matters.

You don’t need to expose yourself publicly.
You don’t need to confront anyone.

But documenting what happened breaks the cycle.

Silence keeps it alive.

And this story isn’t finished yet.

A Private Support Group for Victims and Whistleblowers

If you are reading this and parts of it feel uncomfortably familiar, you are not alone.

A private WhatsApp group has been set up for people affected by CR GROUP LLC (UICEX), CR Wealth, and related copy-paste trading schemes. This is not a recruitment group. It is not a recovery service. Nobody is selling anything inside it.

The purpose of the group is simple:

  • Compare experiences without judgement
  • Preserve evidence before it disappears
  • Help people understand what has actually happened
  • Support those who are still processing the loss

CR GROUP LLC (UICEX) SUPPORTSome members joined early. Others only realised something was wrong when withdrawals stopped, rules changed, or they were asked to pay yet another fee. Many were told to stay quiet. Many were made to feel embarrassed or foolish for asking questions.

That silence is exactly how these schemes survive.

If you have screenshots, messages, BonChat records, payment requests, voice notes, or even just unanswered questions, you are welcome. You do not need to have lost money to join. You only need to be honest about what you saw and what you were told.

The WhatsApp Group link is included below this article, exactly as provided.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/LPIy0d0Mhp5557poFJRw9E

Sharing information is how these schemes collapse.
Staying silent only protects the people who built them.

We have also set up a dedicated Facebook Support Group for people affected by CR GROUP LLC (UICEX) and related rebrands. This group exists solely to help victims share experiences, preserve evidence, and access support in a safer public space, especially for those who may not be comfortable speaking out elsewhere.

Disclaimer: How This Investigation Was Conducted

This investigation relies entirely on OSINT — Open Source Intelligence — meaning every claim made here is based on publicly available records, archived web pages, corporate filings, domain data, social media activity, and open blockchain transactions. No private data, hacking, or unlawful access methods were used. OSINT is a powerful and ethical tool for exposing scams without violating privacy laws or overstepping legal boundaries.

About the Author

I’m DANNY DE HEK, a New Zealand–based YouTuber, investigative journalist, and OSINT researcher. I name and shame individuals promoting or marketing fraudulent schemes through my YOUTUBE CHANNEL. Every video I produce exposes the people behind scams, Ponzi schemes, and MLM frauds — holding them accountable in public.

My PODCAST is an extension of that work. It’s distributed across 18 major platforms — including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, and iHeartRadio — so when scammers try to hide, my content follows them everywhere. If you prefer listening to my investigations instead of watching, you’ll find them on every major podcast service.

You can BOOK ME for private consultations or SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, where I share first-hand experience from years of exposing large-scale fraud and helping victims recover.

“Stop losing your future to financial parasites. Subscribe. Expose. Protect.”

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