nterview with Hana, the Victim of the "Drink Tampering Scandal": A Three-Hour Ordeal on the Brink of Hell
WUBLOCKCHAIN
OCT 31, 2024
@hananotsorry Hana stated on Twitter that on the night of October 24, a DWF partner placed an unknown substance into her drink multiple times at a bar in Hong Kong. In response, DWF stated that the accused partner had behaved inappropriately and unacceptably, and that DWF Labs decided to immediately relieve this partner of his management and operational duties while the matter is under investigation.
The detailed sequence of events was as follows: the two were drinking at the bar, and while the woman went to the bathroom, the man took an unknown object from his pocket and put it into her drink three times. After the woman drank a few sips, she went outside to take a phone call. Then, a bartender informed her of the man’s actions. On October 29, she returned to Hong Kong, reported the incident to the police, and reviewed surveillance footage. She said that two bartenders also testified to this. Wu Blockchain reviewed the related footage and confirmed that the aforementioned behavior had indeed occurred.
The video shows that the man involved was Eugene Ng, a partner at DWF. Eugene Ng’s Twitter account has since been locked and made private. Besides being a partner at DWF, Eugene Ng is also a co-founder of OpenEden, an RWA project invested in by Binance. OpenEden has suspended former DWF partner Eugene Ng’s duties at the company and removed him from the management and operations of the company and its affiliates. DWF Labs announced on social media that their business expansion partner Lingling Jiang (@Lingersj) will officially serve as a partner in charge of leading strategic business expansion.
Link to Hana’s original tweet:
https://x.com/hananotsorry/status/1851256716626968579
The following is the full interview between Wu Blockchain’s Editor-in-Chief Colin and Hana, where Hana recalls many details, including the harrowing three hours on the night of October 24, and how she finally decided to expose the incident.
Hana: I still probably don’t fully count as someone in the crypto space. I’m in traditional dollar funds, looking for a job in the crypto industry.
I met DWF during the Hong Kong Blockchain Week in April this year. Later, during KBW, I met Eugene at an event. He had invited me for dinner, and we had a good chat. We also met at Singapore Token2049. He told me that he had already sent my resume to many people. During this period, he did share some alpha with me, but I didn’t understand it and didn’t make any trades.
We continued to stay in touch, and he would check in on me every two or three days, always asking if I was happy that day, but I didn’t think there were any other motives behind it at that time. Overall, I thought he was very gentlemanly.
Before everything that happened at this bar, I had no defenses up at all, and I never imagined he would do something like this.
Then came the Solana hackathon. Eugene told me that I only needed to buy a ticket and he would take care of everything else. He asked when I would arrive, and I said I would arrive in the morning of the 24th, and then he said we could have dinner together.
On the night of October 24, around 8:15 p.m., he sent me the address of a bar, and I went there. There was nothing suspicious about the whole process, except for that one sentence. He also asked if I wanted to leave my luggage in his hotel. I booked my own hotel and ignored that suggestion.
I arrived at the bar before he did. I messaged him that I liked the bar a lot; it had great design, it was bright, and I loved the decor and music.
Around 8:25 p.m., Eugene arrived at the bar. We started talking about people we had met at the Solana event. I felt he was genuinely trying to help me find a suitable job, and I really valued the opportunity.
He began talking about his family. He said he might retire from the industry in a couple of years. He talked about his faith, about going to church every week, and said his marriage was very unhappy. His wife is very wealthy, they have two children, and they argue a lot because they can’t agree on many things. He said he came from poverty, had slept in hostels, on streets, even in airports. He also mentioned buying a big villa for his wife. Overall, he expressed that although his career was successful, his family life was very painful. He also said his sex life was bad and that they sleep in separate beds. Now that I think about it, it was probably part of a routine.
Around 10 p.m., he said he had a call for a project and took the call while sitting at our table. At around 10:15, I went to the restroom (the drugging time). A few minutes later, I returned to my seat.
We resumed drinking, and I drank about a third of my drink.
Eugene then said the bar was too noisy and stepped out to take a phone call.
The moment he stepped out, the bartender ran over to me and said in English, “I think the guy put something in your drink.”
The bartender said that a French couple sitting nearby had seen the incident and told her. The bartender checked the surveillance footage and then decided to inform me and also offered me a new drink.
The surveillance video viewed by WuBlockchain shows that after Hana left, Eugene took out the suspected drugs from his thigh pocket, looked around, picked up Hana’s wine glass, put the suspected powdery object into it three times in a row, then quickly put it back on the table and wiped his hands with a napkin. Hana drank the wine after she came back. The whole drugging process took less than a minute.
I was dumbfounded, leaning on the table in a daze for several seconds. My mind went blank. I couldn’t believe it because he had made me feel like he was a genuinely good person in so many ways.
I even thought there was a good chance it wasn’t true, that maybe someone had seen it wrong. Because if it were true, it would be too terrifying.
I felt I couldn’t wrongly accuse Eugene, so I had to verify if this was true. When he returned, I asked if we could switch drinks. He suddenly became very tense and quickly grabbed his glass, almost spilling the drink.
I then suggested ordering a new drink. He immediately objected, saying not to waste the drink and insisted I drink it immediately.
At that point, I had no more illusions. I even began to feel a bit scared because I had already drunk a third of the drink (the spiked drink). The tug-of-war continued for a while; he kept asking why I wasn’t drinking, pressuring me to drink, and he was visibly anxious.
Around 11:45, I said I had eaten enough and was ready to leave. I called for an Uber in advance, but it was particularly difficult to get one at that time. I couldn’t get one, so I went outside. Hong Kong’s terrain is very uneven, with lots of stairs, and I felt dizzy, almost immediately squatting down. Eugene told me not to squat and tried to get me to stand up. He kept pulling me up, making me lean on him and put my arm around him.
I was feeling unwell, dizzy, and honestly a bit scared. I wanted to push him away, but I had no strength. He put my arm over his shoulder. I tried to calm myself and squatted back down again; this happened about three times. But I still couldn’t get a car, and I was getting anxious.
Eugene began saying things like: “I’ll take you to catch a ride. I have a suite at the Murray Hotel. Be good to me, and I can give you more insider info. Girls work too hard; you don’t have to take a job at a crypto project. I’ll give you alpha, and you can make money.” He kept repeating how hard the crypto space was.
I canceled my Uber request and flagged down a taxi. Finally, I found one — I saw it was about six minutes away, but I still told him I hadn’t gotten one to make him drop his guard and buy myself some time.
My car was finally close, and I was scared he might do something to me again. I was feeling dizzy, squatting there, and he tried to pull me up. I hugged my legs, refusing to stand.
He then squatted down, put his hands on me, and leaned in very close, while I stayed dizzy, holding out for six minutes.
He kept urging me to go to his hotel. I said I’d already booked mine and couldn’t cancel. He then offered to cover all my costs and send me USDT. By that time, I was really angry, and I told him very strongly, “Stop saying that.”
I told him my car had arrived. He still wanted to get in the car with me and even opened the car door. I told him no, I could manage myself. Then I got in, with my legs already weak. I saw him trying to get in the car, which scared me to death. With my last bit of strength, I slammed the car door shut and told the driver, “Drive!”
The driver, probably familiar with similar situations, immediately accelerated, and I felt like I was on a roller coaster.
When I got back, I lay on the couch for about twenty minutes, mostly feeling dizzy. Though I don’t have a high alcohol tolerance, it shouldn’t have made me feel so weak. The state of fatigue, lack of strength, was not like being drunk.
At that moment, I felt incredibly lucky. If this had happened, the consequences would have been unimaginable. It felt so disgusting. I was really grateful to the bartender for telling me.
I also felt scared afterward. I didn’t think about confronting him because I’m nobody, and nobody in crypto would listen to me.
Although I hadn’t yet seen the footage, I thought about how bright the lights were and wondered how he managed to put something in my drink and still be seen. The lights were really bright; no normal person would dare do that.
I thought maybe he’s experienced, might have hurt many people already, and would keep doing it if I did nothing. I felt I couldn’t just let it go, so I made my first call to one of my closest friends in the community.
He said he’d come with me to Hong Kong, so I booked a flight for 8 a.m. on October 29. I ate a meal, calmed down, and had a coffee right after landing. We went to the bar, but it wasn’t open yet, so we headed directly to the police station.
The police recorded everything, and I repeated what had happened. I took the police report and went to the bar to check the footage. Upon entering, the same bartender (who seemed to be of Filipino descent) who had warned me was there! Eugene had previously mentioned being friends with a shareholder of the bar, and I was a bit scared they might collude.
Seeing the bartender, I got really emotional because she was genuinely a good person. Initially, I was ready to pretend I’d lost something (afraid they were in on it together), but when I saw her, I dropped the act and directly told her everything.
She also said she was very shocked. They’d never had such an incident before, and everyone was astonished. No one would dare to do something like that in such a well-lit place.
She immediately asked what had happened afterward. I started explaining, and without hesitation, she took out the surveillance iPad, and all the staff gathered around. Everyone gathered to watch with me.
We quickly found the “drugging clip.”
Before that, I still had some small hope, but when I saw Eugene’s face, and then saw his hand (putting something into my drink three times), it felt like I had just eaten literal crap.
The staff were all shocked, saying, “So fucked up, I’ve never seen anyone doing this.” They kept saying this person must be a repeat offender; his actions were so smooth, he must have done it many times and succeeded, which is why he dared do it so blatantly, without any fear, in that kind of setting.
I took the video and went back to the police station. The police said I was very lucky and could tell he was a repeat offender — very skilled. They said they’d assist with the investigation. Unfortunately, because I didn’t report it on the day, there was no physical evidence. Although there were witnesses and footage, he would definitely deny everything. The most important thing was the physical evidence — that glass of drink. The police were also concerned about my safety, advising me to be careful, as disclosing the footage might involve an invasion of personal privacy.
I thought that regardless of whether the police could arrest him, I had to speak out. So on the night of October 29, I posted on Twitter. The spread of the news was beyond my expectations, especially since I had only 50 followers. I was always worried that no one would see it, but fortunately, my friends supported me and helped spread it.
The most unexpected thing during this process was someone creating a token based on me. Friends told me I needed to clarify that it wasn’t related to me.
After I posted on Twitter, Eugene contacted me, saying, “Let me know if you’re up to chat.” He sent a few similar messages and called me several times, which I didn’t answer.
With the speed at which the news is spreading, I think it’s already reached explosive levels. I still feel satisfied. Everyone is very positive, helping to retweet and spread the word. I’m very happy and relieved. It’s different from what I imagined because I was scared no one would care.
