Bangkok arrests a crypto scammer who escaped With $15M

On Saturday, a 50-year-old man was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, for allegedly conducting a bitcoin investment scam. He enticed individuals from the country as well as outside it to engage in his fake cryptocurrency scheme by offering enormous profits, claiming that by investing in just 200 days, they might get a return of four times.

According to the Bangkok Post, he attempted to escape with more than 500 million baht (worth around $15 million).

Mana Jumuang, together with his Thai and Vietnamese partners, reportedly plotted to defraud investors in 2018 and 2019, according to the commander of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), Major General Montri Thetkhan.

Jumuang pretended to be a crypto expert, luring investors into investing in Onecoin with promises of high returns, according to him. According to the CSD chief, the suspect assured investors that they could invest and make a 400% return in just 200 days.

The scammer was hiding in Bangkok before getting caught

In addition, he and his accomplices claimed to run shops in Bangkok where they sold things such as houses, automobiles, land plots, gold, food supplements, cosmetics, and clothing on a Onecoin trading platform.

Jumuang first paid dividends to investors, according to Thai authorities. However, he and his co-conspirators were unable to be located when the total amount of investment hit 500 million baht, and the number of buyers continued to grow.

The victims filed statements in multiple police stations, and a warrant for Jumuang’s arrest was issued. In May of this year, he was arrested but got released on bail. He later skipped bail, prompting the issuance of a new arrest warrant. Jumuang has more than 14 arrest warrants, according to local media. He hid from the law by renting a property in Bangkok, where he was arrested on Saturday. 

Crypto scams have been really common these days. An Australian couple earlier this month lost more than $100,000 to a crypto scam.