30s Summary
A South Korean YouTuber allegedly ran a phony investment firm and tricked people into investing in worthless digital tokens, becoming part of a scam that resulted in over $232 million in losses. South Korean police arrested 215 people including the YouTuber and staff from a fake investment consulting company. The scheme primarily targeted middle-aged and elderly individuals with promises of high returns, leading some to sell their homes or take out loans to invest. A total of 28 digital tokens were involved; six were created by the group and the remaining had low trading volume and little value.
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South Korean police said that a YouTuber, who is yet to be identified, ran a phony investment firm and tricked Koreans into investing in worthless digital tokens. Between late 2021 and March 2023, the scam supposedly scammed victims out of more than $232 million.
As part of an investigation into the suspected cryptocurrency investment scam which totaled 325.6 billion won ($232 million), South Korean police arrested 215 people, according to Yonhap.
Included in the arrestees were staff from a bogus investment consulting company and an unnamed YouTuber with 620,000 subscribers, said the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency. Gyeonggi is a South Korean province that surrounds the capital, Seoul.
The scheme, running from December 2021 to March 2023, is alleged to have swindled over 15,000 people by offering high returns on investments in digital assets. The scam primarily targeted middle-aged and older individuals, assuring 20x returns and urging people to sell their apartments and take loans to finance their investments.
The investment involved 28 different tokens, six were created by the group whereas the remaining 22 had low trading volumes and were determined to be of little value. At the moment, twelve of those arrested, including the YouTuber who also ran the consulting firm, are still in detention. He initially escaped South Korea and went to Australia via Hong Kong and Singapore. The names of those implicated in the crime have not been revealed in the report.