South Korean Police have apprehended two crypto scammers who deceived an elderly person out of 5.5 billion won ($4.1 million) by promising lucrative cryptocurrency investments of 1 billion South Korean won within a month.
Two individuals, aged 20 and 30, were apprehended by the Haeundae Police Station in Busan, South Korea, on suspicion of deceiving a senior citizen and stealing 5.5 billion South Korean won across multiple transactions.
The victim was allegedly assured high returns on cryptocurrency investments from September 2022 to December 2022, as reported by a local source.
Scammers promised 70% monthly returns on a 1 billion won investment. According to the police, the con artists stated:
“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.”
In six separate transactions, the victim transferred a total of 5.5 billion won to the con artists, who subsequently forged balance certificates to present as evidence of investments.
The fraudster presented the victim with counterfeit balance statements about cryptocurrency investments and real estate contracts.
The phony balance sheet allegedly displayed cryptocurrencies valued at 20 billion won, according to South Korean police. However, none of the 5.5 billion won in funds from the victim reached the crypto trading account.
Although the officials have promptly apprehended the fraudulent individuals, details regarding the recovery of the funds remain undisclosed.
Meanwhile, Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs and the most infamous crypto entrepreneur in South Korea, was reportedly released from prison in Montenegro on March 23, despite U.S. and South Korean extradition requests.
Legal proceedings against Kwon concerning the Terra ecosystem’s demise in 2022 are underway. Reportedly, prison director Darko Vukcevic stated via telephone:
“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 Council of the Supreme Court, scheduled to consider a decision that could grant or deny Do Kwon’s extradition to South Korea, reportedly released him.