A History of the Arist Scam
Arist, created by Nelson and Benson Chiu, was funded on Kickstarter in 2014 with massive fanfare. It raised $850,000 and was the most successful crowd funded Hong Kong project ever. From the beginning, however, many individuals doubted numerous promised aspects of the Arist. After months of silence on the KS comment page, this website was started to raise awareness and investigate what was going on behind the scenes. It was never imagined the full scope of deception and malpractice that would be uncovered.
Arist is not a new machine - it is a Jura Superautomatic
Recent investigation shows the only documented prototype of the Arist is just a Jura coffee machine. A 2012 youtube video shows a remarkably similar project to Arist. Learn more.
Founders paid cash refunds for artificial KS backings
Hundreds of launch party attendees were asked to fund Arist on KS and were then handed cash refunds. This artificially raised the profile of the campaign. Learn more.
Fraud against Hong Kong
Benson and Nelson Chiu deceived the people of Hong Kong by staging paid actors at demonstrations of Arist. They defrauded Hong Kong by not paying taxes. And they have stolen from taxpayers by taking a matching sum – $850,000 for what they raised on Kickstarter. Learn more.
Fraud at ICT
In order to be eligible for the ICT Award, devices need to exist for at least 3 months. Benson and Nelson made the preposterous claim that 1000 machines from the first generation of Arist had been sent around the world to baristas. Learn more.
An Unimpressive Resume
Benson and Nelson Chiu have made a career out of being professional snake oil salesmen. From exaggerating or lying about their professional past, plagiarizing other people’s applications, to running a Kickstarter consultancy business which focuses more on the optics of a campaign then teaching businessmen how to build a real product. Learn more.
Changing Product Specifications
Arist was promised to be a product with a laundry list of high-end specifications. A grinder worth more than the price of the machine, a refrigeration unit for milk, 2 bean containers – the list is endless. Bit by bit not only the look of the machine but these specifications are vanishing or changing. Learn more.
Silencing Opposition on Kickstarter
Benson has refunded the most vocal critics on Kickstarter, who then can’t post comments. Then pretended like he didn’t. Learn more.