There are certain images that immediately have more than a whiff of a scam about them. It’s the beige hotel walls and busy carpeting; the fold-down seats; the pulldown projector and pop-up banners. Its the overly enthusiastic speaker bellowing into a mic, suggesting that the audience needs to whoop and holler more. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, after all!
Bår Tyrmi’s documentary, Lie to Me, follows the crumbling and (frighteningly) rebuilding of one such scam. OneCoin was hailed as the “BitCoin Killer” – it was a cryptocurrency that was going to take over the world and blow its rivals into the dust. Except, it was all one big scam, exposed by Norwegian Blockchain expert, Bjørn Bjercke. With murders, disappearances and the loss of millions of dollars, this exposé will take you on an international trail of extortion and mystery.
The film is split into ten different parts, plus a prologue. They’ve named things like “A Couple from Hell”, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Fatwa” and “Never Stop Believing”. Locations as far apart as Telemark, Norway, and Kampala, Uganda, are pin drops in the map. American journalists, German police, South African bankers, London Imams and Scandinavian tech experts are all brought into the mix. As viewers, this is a constant reminder of the sheer scale of the scam.
What is perhaps most present, though, is this notion of OneCoin as an enormous cult. Certainly, their over-the-top conferences and product launches don’t look any different to the ramblings of an evangelical pastor at a mega-church. They target nay-sayers and “non-believers” in torrents of unending online abuse and legal letters that would make the most ardent Scientologist blush. Duncan Arthur, a former top executive at the firm, asserts, “The narrative at the time was that the haters were all paid haters. And I fell for that narrative.” He maintains, despite his position in the company, that he was also a victim of their Machiavellian tricks and techniques.
Psychologists, marketers and influencing experts all agree in their talking heads that OneCoin leaders display cult-like behaviours. “We are not only a coin, we are becoming a family,” CEO Ruja Ignatova. It’s this insidious type of language that creates communities. And what do communities create? More customers. What is particularly appalling is the targeting of religious communities – OneCoin even has a “shariah compliant” version of the product for Muslim customers – and of third world countries. Selling a dream of a life without financial stress to someone who has nothing to start with is a spectacular display of cruelty. And, of course, the deeper these customers get into their investment, the more they have to believe that it’s all true and that they will eventually get their money. The truth is far too unsettling to face.
There are so many twists and turns in Bår Tyrmi’s documentary, which is peppered with neat little retro “mini-films” underlining what is happening at various points in the film. CEO Ruja Ignatova disappears – she still hasn’t been found. Duncan Arthur is living in the shadows, for fear of his life. Bjørn Bjercke has moved several times to avoid being doxxed and harassed. He’s also been served legal letters, threatening to take him for millions. And, like The Hydra, every time one “CEO” or logo disappears, another appears. OneCoin is seen to be re-branding and evolving into another iteration that is equally insidious.
“Justice works slowly whilst the scams work fast,” one shadowy talking head remarks. And it’s that statement that echoes in your mind whilst you watch new marks, sorry, customers, wax lyrical about the OneCoin “family”. They’re excited for a future that does not exist; a promise that will never materialise. Whilst the likes of Bjørn Bjercke continue to point out the scam, there will still be people out there who desperately need to believe in the fairytale.
Lie to Me is an intense and frustrating watch that will leave you with more than a few unanswered questions. It takes its time to explain complicated technology talking points so that you’re never left feeling lost in all the jargon. It offers well-paced insights into a scam that is surely not the first or last of its kind.
Lie To Me is currently screening at Golden Nymphs – Monte-Carlo Television Festival between the 14th-18th June.