DWF Labs dismisses partner over drink spiking allegations, removes Eugene Ng from team page

Crypto trading firm DWF Labs and tokenization firm OpenEden have dismissed a partner following allegations of drink spiking that surfaced on X. DFW did not identify the individual but has removed Eugene Ng, a founding partner, from its team page.

“We are aware of the recent and deeply concerning allegations involving one of our partners, who has been accused of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour. While the matter is under investigation, DWF Labs has decided to dismiss the said partner from management and operational roles effective immediately,” the company said in a statement. 

OpenEden, the real-world asset firm co-founded by Ng, also stated it has suspended "a member of its team" without identifying them. "As a platform that is committed to upholding the values of trust and integrity, we are dismayed to learn of these allegations involving the personal actions of this individual."

X user Hana posted at 13:36 UTC on Tuesday allegations that a partner at DWF Labs drugged her last Thursday.

“I never thought I’d personally experience something like this. On the evening of October 24th, I was drugged by a partner at @DWFLabs at a bar in HK. I have reported this to the local police and have collected video evidence of him spiking my drink,” Hana said.

Hana went on to describe the experience of being told by a waitress that her drink was allegedly spiked with an unknown substance multiple times while she was using the restroom. On social media, Hana says she is a venture capitalist in Web 2.0, looking to break into web3 and was meeting the alleged attacker to discuss potential career opportunities. 

Hana said she obtained CCTV footage from the venue and has filed a police report. She posted images of both the incident report and alleged drugging online. 

Following the allegations, Ng placed his X account private. Then, around the time of DWF Labs' statement, he appears to have deleted his account. His LinkedIn page has also been taken offline.

Ng is a former employee at Barclays, Citi and Deutsche Bank who has risen to prominence in the crypto industry. In addition to advising DFW, he has founded real-world asset firm OpenEden and was Gemini's former head of business development in Asia.

The Block reached out to Ng and DFW for a statement. This is a developing story and we will update as we learn more.

Editor's note (Oct. 29, 2024): Adds statement from OpenEden.