The Seoul Metropolitan Police Company’s Monetary Crime Investigation Crew reportedly arrested 14 folks concerned in a $12.8 million (16 billion received) cryptocurrency mining rip-off.
The chief of the operation was a person in his 40s surnamed Li who went to nice lengths to keep away from detection by regulation enforcement, together with present process cosmetic surgery.
Mastermind undergoes cosmetic surgery to evade seize
South Korean capital authorities declare On August 30, after a 10-month hunt, Li was captured.
He was accused of organizing a fraudulent digital asset mining enterprise and defrauding 158 victims of their investments between November 2021 and June 2022.
In keeping with police, the suspects embezzled 4.5 billion received ($3.6 million) out of a complete of 16 billion received raised from victims. To take care of the looks of a official operation, he employed a community of recruiters, together with 4 prime headhunters and 4 mid-level brokers, who had been instrumental in convincing folks of the corporate’s purported profitability.
The plan started to unravel in July 2022, when the Seoul Metropolitan Police Company launched an investigation after checking out 21 lawsuits and accusations in opposition to the perpetrators from police stations throughout the nation.
The investigation revealed Lee’s elaborate planning to keep away from arrest, together with spending 20 million received on cosmetic surgery to alter his look and evade authorities.
Suspect arrested after 10-month manhunt
Regardless of his efforts, the suspect’s luck got here to an finish when police arrested him earlier this month. He has been on the run since September final yr after failing to look in court docket for substantive assessment of his arrest warrant.
Whereas in hiding, Lee was reportedly assisted by the workplace supervisor of the regulation agency he employed. The workplace supervisor allegedly helped him escape by serving to him discover a cosmetic surgery clinic keen to carry out the surgical procedure and offered him with a pretend mobile phone to additional throw off investigators.
Along with his arrest, authorities arrested eight recruiters who performed key roles within the fraud operation. These folks had been handed over to prosecutors in September final yr and early this month respectively.
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