Embattled Crypto Platform Freeway’s ‘Billion-Dollar Man’ Isn’t the Insurance Titan He Claims to Be

Embattled crypto staking level Freeway appears to person a occupation beyond conscionable being forced to frost withdrawals and its nearly worthless FWT token. Its span to accepted concern – Joel Krueger, which the institution touted arsenic its “billion-dollar man” – isn’t the concern enforcement helium claims.

Krueger’s LinkedIn page arsenic good arsenic communications from Freeway itself asseverate that helium – successful summation to his main concern advisor relation with Freeway – has a elder occupation astatine Aon, a British security institution with $4.1 trillion successful assets nether advisement arsenic of June 30.

Aon says that’s not true.

At the apical of Krueger’s LinkedIn leafage arsenic of Monday, Krueger said helium was “Global Chief Investment Officer” of Aon. Lower down, it said helium started moving arsenic Aon’s “Global CIO – Insurance” successful June 2017, and inactive had the job. (The page has since been updated to accidental that relation ended successful August 2022.)

A November 2020 tweet from Freeway called him “CIO of Aon.” A February 2022 post connected Freeway’s blog referred to him arsenic “Global Chief Investment Officer for Insurance for Aon PLC.” Freeway, which promised up to a 43% instrumentality connected investments done products it calls Superchargers, referred to Krueger arsenic its “billion-dollar man” successful tweets promoting his narration with the company.

When contacted by CoinDesk, Aon denied that Krueger was ever employed by the company.

“Joel doesn’t enactment for Aon, and didn’t – helium was a advisor for a period,” according to a spokesperson, Tom Blackwell of FTI Consulting. Asked if it’s inaccurate that Krueger’s rubric astatine Aon was “Global Chief Investment Officer,” the spokesperson replied: “Correct.”

There are uncertainties astir Krueger’s tenure astatine Prudential, too. On his LinkedIn, helium said helium was Prudential’s Regional Investment Officer for the firm’s Asia business.

Freeway, however, has called him Prudential’s Chief Investment Officer.

A spokesperson for Prudential said that the institution couldn't remark connected the substance of Krueger's rubric and employment with the company.

In an emailed statement, Krueger said his enactment with Freeway has been wholly abstracted from “any different organizations with which I americium oregon was associated, and I person not promoted Freeway to anyone successful my nonrecreational network.”

Krueger explained that his relation with Freeway involves processing products lone for usage successful regulated environments.

“I person not been associated with unregulated products, specified arsenic Superchargers and I person not provided immoderate oversight to Freeway’s trading activities,” helium said.

Sadie Hutton and Graham Doggart, who are listed arsenic co-CEOs of Freeway, did not respond to emails requesting comment.

Since Freeway froze its business, videos starring Krueger oregon different Freeway unit person been made backstage connected YouTube.

Shades of 2017’s ICO Bubble

There are echoes present of past controversies successful cryptocurrencies. During the highest of the archetypal coin offering (ICO) bubble of 2017, the manufacture was rife with misrepresentations astir the advisory boards down projects.

Celebrities often recovered their likeness inserted arsenic an adviser.

In 1 case, the ICO MIROSKII utilized an image of Ryan Gosling to correspond its graphic decorator “Kevin Belanger.” Other times ICOs would troll LinkedIn for headshots and insert less-recognizable professionals into their advisory slots.

Freeway maintains that the intermission successful withdrawals is lone temporary, though it hasn’t said erstwhile customers mightiness beryllium capable to get their money.

“While this process is ongoing, Freeway volition beryllium allocating superior to its underlying portfolio, and this means for a impermanent clip we volition not beryllium buying Supercharger simulations until our caller strategies are implemented,” the squad wrote successful a caller update.

Krueger, for his part, told CoinDesk that helium remains progressive with Freeway “in my existent capacity.”