Catenaa, Sunday, November 24, 2024- South Korean authorities have arrested 215 individuals linked to a large-scale cryptocurrency investment scam worth approximately $232 million (325.6 billion won).
The operation, led by the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police, involved employees of a fraudulent investment consulting firm, including its founder, a YouTuber with 620,000 followers.
The founder’s identity has not been disclosed.
The scam, which ran from December 2021 to March 2023, targeted over 15,000 victims, mostly middle-aged and elderly individuals, with promises of 20-fold returns on digital asset investments.
Many victims were persuaded to sell their homes or take out loans to participate. The scheme involved 28 tokens, of which only six were created by the group.
These tokens were listed on overseas exchanges, where brokers manipulated their prices by making internal purchases before selling to investors. The remaining 22 tokens had low trading volumes and were found to be nearly worthless.
Among those arrested, twelve remain in detention, including the YouTuber, who initially fled to Hong Kong and Singapore before reaching Australia.
This is the latest in a series of scams preying on vulnerable populations in South Korea. Despite these frauds, South Korea’s cryptocurrency market continues to expand, with 7.78 million investors and a growing market value.
