Reform UK councillor promoted HyperVerse, a collapsed crypto scheme alleged to be a Ponzi scheme
A Reform UK councillor on Wolverhampton city council was one of the main UK promoters of HyperVerse, a cryptocurrency scheme that US court documents describe as an alleged pyramid and Ponzi scheme, according to a Guardian report published on 7 November 2026. Susan Lawrence was elected as a councillor for Reform UK, a British political party. She sits on the council's audit and risk committee, which oversees the financial reporting of a multimillion-pound budget.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraud that pays earlier investors with money from newer ones. US court documents name HyperVerse as an alleged scheme of this kind that cheated investors worldwide out of $1.89bn. It spread through the US and UK from 2020 to 2022, and its collapse left investors unable to access their funds.
In 2021 the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial regulator, issued a consumer warning that HyperVerse-related firms may have been promoting financial services without permission. The Guardian reports that Lawrence promoted HyperVerse, or later variations of it, even after that warning.
In a 2022 presentation, Lawrence addressed HyperVerse community members who were concerned that they could no longer access their invested funds.
Sam Lee, described as HyperVerse's alleged co-founder, was charged in the US in 2024 with civil and criminal offences over the HyperVerse schemes. The Guardian reports that Lawrence travelled to Dubai to meet Lee, and that she was filmed promoting two other related investment schemes.
Lawrence was referred to as a "super leader" for the Vidilook investment platform, which is linked to Lee. According to the Guardian, she promoted the schemes alongside Desmond Amey, who is described as the key UK-based promoter of the schemes.
