Asia PacificSouth Korean police arrest 215 people in suspected $228m...

South Korean police arrest 215 people in suspected $228m crypto scam

-

South Korean police have arrested 215 people on suspicion of stealing 320 billion won ($228.4m) in the biggest cryptocurrency investment scam in the country.

Gyeonggi Nambu provincial police said on Wednesday that the arrests included the alleged mastermind of the organised crime group accused of selling 28 types of virtual tokens to about 15,000 people by promising high returns. Referred to as Mr A, he had fled to Australia but was arrested and extradited. Police have confiscated 22 Bitcoin from his accounts and have applied to seize some $34m more. Just 12 people of the 215 remain in custody, according to Yonhap.

Police said the group had issued six of the 28 tokens on overseas crypto exchanges and were managing a team of market makers to push up prices. Police described the tokens as “worthless”. Members of the alleged criminal ring are also accused of using personal information garnered through both digital advertising, including nearly 9m phone numbers, and theft to take out fraudulent loans.

skip past newsletter promotion

The group had set up investment consulting companies and sales teams to sell the virtual assets to people who had subscribed to a YouTube channel that had accrued hundreds of thousands of subscribers, the police statement said. They allegedly preyed on middle-aged and elderly victims.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest news

Four-Year-Old Boy Who Smashed Rare Bronze Age Jar Returns To Museum In Israel

A four-year-old boy who accidentally broke an ancient urn dating back to the late Bronze Age has returned for...

Donald Trump Threatens To Imprison Mark Zuckerburg For

Donald Trump has threatened to imprison Mark Zuckerberg if the Facebook founder does "anything illegal" to influence the upcoming...

Hamas Commander Killed In West Bank, Israeli Military Says

Israeli border police say they have killed a senior Hamas commander in the West Bank. The military says Wassem...

Abba Demands Donald Trump Campaign Stop Use Of Their Music – Joining Long List Of Stars

Abba has become the third musical act this month to complain about its music being used in Donald Trump's...

Must read

More

    Watchdog opens investigation into anti-immigrant posts on Facebook

    Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta must answer “serious questions” about its...

    Elon Musk targets Microsoft in expanded OpenAI lawsuit

    Elon Musk has expanded his lawsuit against the ChatGPT...

    You might also likeRELATED
    Recommended to you

    0
    Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
    ()
    x