Most Victims of Fraud Were Elderly... 50 Billion Won Cryptocurrency Investment Scam Gang Arrested

Office view of an investment company. [Image source=Busan Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Fifteen members of a group, including the company CEO, who deceived 2,600 people by promising principal guarantees and dividends for investments in cryptocurrency and electronic lottery businesses, have been arrested.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's Violent Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 21st that among the 15 members, the CEO in his 40s, Mr. A, and a regional representative in his 60s from Busan, Mr. B, were detained on charges of fraud and violation of the Act on the Regulation of Conducting Fund-Raising Business without Permission, while the other 13 members were booked without detention.

According to the police, the group embezzled a total of approximately 55.2 billion KRW in investment funds from elderly victims over about 1 year and 7 months, from January 2020 to August 2021.

The group established an investment company under the name Mo Best in the Busan and Daegu areas and deceived investors by claiming, "If you invest in coin and electronic lottery businesses, we will pay 1% of the investment amount 90 times."

In July of last year, the police received intelligence that a "coin investment briefing session" was being held targeting elderly people, conducted a search of the office, and secured investor lists and investment details.

Investigations revealed that the company deceived victims by advertising coins that were not traded and claiming to have developed an AI program that predicts lottery winning numbers.

The police stated that although there were no actual investment profits, the group continued the crime for a long time using a "Ponzi scheme" method, paying dividends to existing investors with new investment funds.

The police detained the Busan regional representative, who denied the crime, through digital evidence analysis, and arrested the Daegu regional representative, who was on the run, at a hideout through a tracking investigation.

Contract photo. [Image source=Busan Police Agency]

To ensure swift recovery of damages, the police's crime proceeds tracking team applied for pre-indictment seizure and preservation of assets such as hotels and lease deposits acquired with the criminal proceeds and are currently verifying additional hidden assets.

A police official said, "We are accepting additional damage reports for some victims who are still unaware of the damage," and added, "We will conduct a swift investigation to ensure prompt recovery of damages."

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