Two fraudsters in their 20s and 30s have been apprehended by South Korean police for swindling a senior citizen out of 5.5 billion won ($4.1 million) through a scam involving crypto investments. The individuals were detained at the Haeundae Police Station in Busan, South Korea, after it was discovered that they had deceived the elderly victim and conducted multiple transactions to steal the funds.
According to local reports, the scammers enticed the victim with promises of substantial profits from cryptocurrency investments between September and December 2022. They guaranteed a monthly return of 70% on a 1 billion won investment. The police quoted the fraudsters as stating:
“We assure you that you will earn significant profits by investing in cryptocurrencies.”
The victim fell for the scam and sent a total of 5.5 billion won through six separate transactions to the fraudsters. In order to substantiate their false claims, the scammers forged balance certificates to present as evidence of the supposed investments. During the course of the scam, the victim was shown counterfeit balance sheets of cryptocurrency investments and real estate contracts.
The fake balance sheet indicated holdings of 20 billion won worth of cryptocurrencies, despite none of the victim’s funds actually being transferred to any crypto trading account. Although the police managed to apprehend the fraudsters promptly, information regarding the recovery of the stolen funds has not yet been disclosed.
In related news, Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs and a prominent figure in the South Korean crypto industry, was reportedly released from prison in Montenegro on March 23. This comes amid extradition requests from both the United States and South Korea. Kwon is currently facing legal charges for his alleged involvement in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022. The decision to release him reportedly came from the Council of the Supreme Court, which is currently reviewing the extradition request.
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