'Coin Investment Scam' 20s Arrested and Sent for Prosecution for Embezzling 600 Million Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A man in his 20s who swindled hundreds of millions of won through cryptocurrency investment fraud has been handed over to the prosecution.

Seoul Gwanak Police Station announced on the 3rd that they have sent Mr. A, a man in his 20s accused of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to the prosecution in custody.

According to the police, Mr. A is suspected of inviting victims at random to a social networking service (SNS) group chat room from April to June this year and inducing them to invest in cryptocurrency, pocketing about 610 million won.

Mr. A created a website disguised as a subcontractor of an actual cryptocurrency exchange and made victims invest in cryptocurrency listed items through that site.

In the process, he gained the victims' trust by returning some amounts under the name of investment profits and responded to refund requests. It was found that no actual money was used for investment.

Currently, 24 victims have been identified, with damages ranging from 10 million won to a maximum of 70 million won.

Four people who helped Mr. A open corporate accounts and bankbooks were also sent to prosecution without detention on the same day on charges of violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act.

A police official said, "We are investigating on the assumption that there are more accomplices," and added, "We are also checking whether there are additional victims."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.