Bitcoin Forum

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Thai citizen Prinya Jaravijit, who allegedly defrauded a Finnish investor of $24 Million worth of Bitcoin (BTC), has recently been detained in Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, the Bangkok Post reports Friday, Oct. 12.

According to newspaper, Jaravijit arrived in Bangkok on a flight from South Korea en route from the U.S., where he allegedly spent two months after his brother’s detention in connection with the same crime.

Shortly after the arrest Jaravijit, who was wanted on charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, was delivered to local police where he was questioned. His lawyers are reportedly preparing to apply for bail.

As per the Bangkok Post, in January Finnish investor Aarni Otava Saarimaa along with his Thai business partner Chonnikan Kaewkasee complained to the Thai Crime Suppression Division (CSD). They claimed that Jaravajit along with six other suspects had duped them into investing $24 million worth of BTC into a scheme involving three companies and gambling-focused crypto token Dragon Coin (DRG).

However, Saarima and Kaewkasee never received any dividends from the so-called investment, proof of investment in DRG, nor were they invited to a shareholder’s meeting. CSD states that the funds were withdrawn from their BTC wallets, converted into baht and then spent by the alleged fraudsters.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, the case came to public attention when soap-opera actor Jiratpisit "Boom" Jaravijit — Prinya’s younger brother — was detained in August.

In October, the Thai Money Laundering Office confiscated funds worth $6.4 million from Jaravijit's family and other people connected to the case, and is preparing to charge the suspects with fraud.

Following the detention of his brother, Prinya Jaravijit reportedly fled to the U.S. to avoid charges. He was ordered to return to Thailand by Oct. 8, but failed to do so. The Thai Foreign Ministry then revoked his passport which made his further stay in the U.S. illegal.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/prime-suspect-in-24-million-bitcoin-scam-arrested-in-thailand

I read about this and actually posted it in the legal thread as a topic in hopes to hear some legal perspectives - I imagine this is probably a landmark case, so it will be interesting to see what happens

Don't think it's really that much of a landmark case, other than that the medium of investment was Bitcoin. Just another ponzi scheme run by highly charismatic people. Hard to feel truly sorry for people with that much money, to buy into some scheme promising easy profits. Just goes to show there's all sorts of people, but people invariably act the same when it comes to money, be it $5 or $5 million.

If you own Bitcoin and still think it's wise to entrust people with it, then you've not properly understood just what it is you've come into.

They might be simple, but being simple is not a sin. The one that should be blamed is the criminal, who takes advantage of others' simpleness, not the victim.

It's something we'll be seeing a whole lot more with how people don't understand the basic principles of why Bitcoin even exists. Mainstream adoption is praised by many, but it's working against decentralization.

If you ask them what Bitcoin is, they'll tell you it's a currency for payments. If you then ask them what benefits there are to it, they don't know what there is to answer. They only care about their gains, everything else is not of importance.

BitConnect is the perfect example of that. It shocked me how after that platform went down videos popped up from people telling how they invested their life savings and lost it all a couple of months later.

It's their fault for sure. It was a desperate attempt to obtain a better life, and they failed miserably.

This is perfectly said - thank you

I think there are two separate issues which we shouldn't mash together while discussing. Investing in a sh*tcoin and losing your investment because of the coin's failure is one thing. But being deprived of money by fraudsters is entirely another. And the article from the OP is about the latter. Dragon Coin (DRG), being not very successful project, has lost 95% of its value since its release, but even if it was successful the Finnish investor in questing would be still defrauded of his $24 Million worth of Bitcoin because the money was simply stolen from him.

After this case of fraud, which received wide publicity in the media, the Bank of Thailand was forced to stand up for cryptocurrency. The regulator explained that the fraud scheme had no direct relation to digital assets..

Good thing that criminal suspects got caught, those who fraud should get punished.