The Thai police arrested Jiratpisit “Boom” Jaravijit, a 27-year-old actor, in a bitcoin scam of $24 Million according to Bangkok Post.
Jiratpisit would be one of the seven suspects in the alleged crime, including his siblings. On July 26, the Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant following a complaint by a Finnish man who had fraudulently induced foreigners to invest 797 Million baht (about 24 million) in cryptocurrency. Jiratpisit was arrested for money laundering, which he rejects.
The alleged cybercriminal promised to buy shares of companies that poured funds into the cryptocurrency, Dragon Coin. According to the Bangkok Post, investors didn’t get a share of their alleged funding or an invite to a general meeting. The Crime Suppression Division reports that the hackers removed BTC from their e-wallets and then converted it to baht.
Previously this week, the South Korean police searched the Shinil Group’s office, whose alleged crypto fraud promised investors the waste of the Dmitrii Donskoi, a Russian warship that sank 113 Years ago; in return to encourage investors to buy the company’s cryptocurrencies, Shinil gave a commitment to pay in the form of gold as a reimbursement. The coin managed to fetch 60 Billion won, which is around 53.7 million in investments from around 100,000 investors since its launch this year. However, there are no clear indications that the ship contained some valuable assets.
Recently, Trend Micro, a Tokyo-based security software maker, has found malware for Bitcoin ATMs. Trend Micro cited an ad published by a user on a darknet forum. At a price of $25,000, criminals could buy Bitcoin ATM malware accompanied by a deployment card with Near Field Communication and EMV features.
However, with the drastic evolution of virtual currencies, one of the most crucial issues that stay unresolved is the security safeguard of the transactions.
Thai police arrested Jiratpisit “Boom” Jaravijit, a 27-year-old actor, in July 2018 on suspicion of involvement in a $24 million Bitcoin fraud.
The fraud involved the promise of large returns to investors who purchased shares of DNA 2002 Plc, a bitcoin-related company. The investors, however, never received dividends from the purported investment, nor were they invited to a shareholders’ meeting.
Jaravijit and his cohorts induced investors to invest in DNA 2002 Plc by promising high returns, according to the police investigation. The investors had transmitted to the suspects a total of 5,564,4 bitcoins, worth approximately $24 million at the time.
The police also discovered that the suspects withdrew bitcoins from their accounts, converted them to baht, and then spent the money.
On August 8, 2018, Jaravijit was detained on a film set and charged with money laundering. In October 2018, he was released on bail, but the proceedings against him are still pending.
The remaining suspects in this case remain at large.
The Bitcoin fraud in Thailand is a reminder of the dangers associated with cryptocurrency investments. Any investment that promises high returns with little or no risk should be avoided. Additionally, they should conduct investigation to ensure that they are investing with a reputable company.
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