Police arrest “mastermind” YouTuber and 215 others in $232M crypto scam

Police have arrested 215 people, including a popular YouTuber, in connection with a $232 million cryptocurrency scam.

South Korean police have arrested 215 individuals involved in a virtual asset scam that defrauded around 15,000 investors of approximately $232 million (325 billion won). The scammers lured victims with promises of returns up to 20 times their initial investment.

Police also detained an unnamed YouTuber with over 620,000 subscribers, believed to be the “mastermind” behind the crypto scam, along with 12 others.

According to a report, authorities have charged the suspected ringleader and their accomplices with organizing, joining, or participating in a criminal organization. The alleged crimes occurred between December 2021 and March 2023 and involved the gang issuing 28 different types of fraudulent digital assets.

To carry out the scheme, the YouTuber reportedly established over 20 quasi-investment consulting firms and shell corporations, handling tasks like coin issuance, price manipulation, and money laundering.

Among the 28 digital assets issued to investors, six were created by the mastermind and listed on overseas cryptocurrency exchanges.

To generate interest, the YouTuber and his associates allegedly manipulated the value by making their own purchases to drive up prices. These assets were later sold at inflated prices, leaving unsuspecting investors to bear the losses.

“Investment leading fraud crimes are becoming more organized and intelligent, producing many victims,” an unnamed Korean police official said. “If high returns are guaranteed through non-face-to-face investment recommendations, there is a high possibility that it is a scam, so please be especially careful.”

The report revealed that many of the victims were middle-aged and older Koreans who were persuaded to invest their life savings. In some instances, victims even sold their apartments to raise the funds needed for the investment.

Police have announced that they have applied for pre-indictment confiscation and preservation of the $34.2 million that has been recovered.