A cryptocurrency millionaire has lost around 5,500 Bitcoins to investment scammers in Thailand, according to a media report.
In June last year, Finnish businessman Aarni Otava Saarimaa was approached by a group who convinced him to send the bitcoins in exchange for investment in several Thai stocks.
Saarimaa, who bought into the scheme, transferred a total of 5,564 bitcoins to the group, the report added. Soon realizing that he has been scammed, Saarimaa filed a complaint to Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division (CSD) in January.
The CSD subsequently launched an investigation and have arrested a Thai movie star, Jiratpisit “Boom” Jaravijit, who was linked to the fraud, along with two of his siblings, one of whom has left the country. The siblings face money laundering charges and, potentially, fraud charges.
It has been reported that the scammers converted the bitcoins into Thai currency, deposited it into accounts belonging to seven suspects, and spent some of it on plots of land. In all, the fraudsters made off with nearly $24m.
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