We all know that scams come from all sorts of places, including situations where you thought you were safe, such as investing money in a “legitimate” business.
The Bangkok Post reports that Aarni Otava Saarima, a 22 year old Bitcoin billionaire, lost 5,564.4 coins while investing in what he believed to be legitimate casinos and companies. At the time, the amount of coins was equal to $24 billion dollars.
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Over a six month investigation, Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division discovered that Saarima was approached by a group of nine individuals that met up with him and convinced him to send them the Bitcoins.
Saarima believed he was investing in different businesses, including a casino and a new cryptocurrency called Dragon Coins. The scammers had him convinced that his investments could help the casino accept this cryptocurrency as a form of payment. With every new payment made, the scammers converted the Bitcoins into cash and transferred it to different accounts, even investing some money on plots of land.
At the moment, three suspects have been arrested, including Thai actor, Jiratpisit ‘Boom’ Jaravijit, and one of his siblings.
Investigators from Thailand say that the fact that Bitcoin was involved complicated matters in unexpected ways. Since cryptocurrency is extremely difficult to trace, the money trail had to be carefully investigated, delaying the arrests for seven months.
