South Korean Prosecutors Indict ‘Crypto Fraudster Who Had Plastic Surgery to Avoid Arrest’
Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...
South Korean prosecutors have indicted a man they think masterminded a $3.4 million crypto fraud and underwent plastic surgery to avoid arrest.
Police said that the man, surnamed Kim and aged in his forties, was “arrested after 10 months on the run.”
Per Newsis, officers think Kim “defrauded 158 victims” out of a combined $3.4 million by promising them “high returns if they invested in a crypto mining business.”
Police also handed over five suspected accomplices, including “the head of a law firm” to the prosecution service.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crimes Investigation Unit issued an arrest warrant for Kim and charged eight other “recruiters” last year.
However, Kim managed to escape arrest and spent 10 months on the run, trying to evade detectives by reportedly changing his appearance.
Officers said he had “defrauded victims” by promising to pay them 18% “profits” on their stakes every month.
Instead, police said, Kim “embezzled” his investors’ funds. Officers said they confiscated almost $75,000 worth of cash and froze a further $972,000.
Officers think Kim launched his operation in November 2021, and succeeded in gathering investors up until June 2022.
However, after investors claimed they had not been paid as promised, police launched a probe.
They eventually applied for an arrest warrant for Kim in September 2023. However, he failed to show up at a court hearing on September 19, 2023.
Officers spent almost a year trying to track him down, using CCTV footage, phone and app records, and Internet search records.
Read more on cryptonews.com
