A South Korean man was arrested on Saturday in Bangkok, Thailand, accused of having turned more than $ 50 million in cryptocurrency in physical gold bars in just three months.
The man, identified by the Thai authorities only as “Han”, would have been a key figure in a network of fraud-center of calls which attracted the victims with promises of 30 to 50% of returns on investment. The authorities say that the victims were initially paid in small amounts to strengthen confidence before starting to face withdrawal limits later.
Meanwhile, Han would have raised 47.3 million in Tether, a stable linked to the value of the US dollar. He would have used digital funds to buy golden bars, each weighing more than 10 kilograms or 22 pounds, each transaction worth more than a million dollars.
Police said the gold bars had been used to convert illegal cryptography funds into a tangible goods that crooks could move through borders without being detected.
After the victims began to file complaints, the Thai criminal court published an arrest warrant against Han and his agents in February. Eleven people, including Han, have been arrested so far with involvement in the scam, according to Thai media.
Thai police apprehend Han to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport and the burden of fraud, identity, computer crimes, money laundering and participation in a criminal union.
Victims around the world have lost a huge $ 10.7 billion in cryptographic scams In 2024, according to data from the Blockchain intelligence company, TRM Labs. The report revealed that global cryptography scams have increased 456% in the past year. Experts advise people to be cautious in their approach to cryptocurrency or even to avoid it completely.
Crypto has particularly turbocharged cross -border scams: nature -free, instantaneous and anonymous nature of cryptographic transactions facilitates these criminal operations, while transactions escape the usual regulatory monitoring of other cross -border financial transactions.
Thailand bets very large on the crypto
The news also occurs when the Thai government makes a huge bet on the crypto in the hope of reorganizing its tourism industry.
Earlier this week, Thailand announced an 18 -month -old pilot program that would allow tourists to convert crypto to local currency, Thai Baht, via Thai crypto exchange platforms to make payments to local businesses.
The Thai Finance Ministry said they will cap the conversions at 550,000 baht, almost equal to nearly $ 17,000 to prevent money laundering, Reuters reported.
The country of origin of Han in South Korea is no stranger to the cryptocurrency investment scams of several million dollars. A year ago, the South Korean police arrested more than 200 people for stolen more than $ 228 million in a cryptographic scam that has since been considered the biggest in the history of the country.
