In Busan, South Korea, the Haeundae Police Station has apprehended two individuals, aged in their 20s and 30s, for defrauding a senior citizen of 5.5 billion won ($4.1 million) through cryptocurrency investment schemes.
The duo enticed the victim with promises of hefty returns, suggesting a 70% profit on monthly investments of 1 billion won.
The scammers’ persuasive assurance was, “It’s a boom period for coin (cryptocurrency).
“If you invest 1 billion won, I will call it 1.7 billion won a month later.”
Over the course of several months, from September to December 2022, the victim made six transactions totaling 5.5 billion won, only to be deceived with counterfeit balance certificates feigning proof of investment.
The elaborate scam involved presenting the victim with forged balance sheets displaying 20 billion won in cryptocurrencies and fabricated real estate contracts, falsely suggesting the successful placement of the victim’s funds in crypto trading accounts.
Despite the apprehension of the fraudsters, the status of the recovered funds remains undisclosed.
This incident underscores the risks associated with the burgeoning yet volatile cryptocurrency market. It coincides with developments involving South Korea’s notorious crypto figure, Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs.
Kwon, entangled in legal proceedings following the Terra ecosystem’s collapse in 2022, was released from Montenegrin custody on March 23.
Despite serving a sentence for possession of falsified documents, his future is uncertain with pending extradition requests from both the United States and South Korea.
Prison director Darko Vukcevic detailed, “We released Do Kwon from prison as his regular prison term for traveling with fake papers ended.
“Since he is a foreign citizen and his documents were withheld, he was taken for an interview to the police directorate for foreigners, and they will deal with him further.”
The impending decision by the Council of the Supreme Court regarding Kwon’s extradition to South Korea adds another layer of intrigue to the international legal drama surrounding cryptocurrency crimes.
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