Couple arrested --- amassed $17M worth of BTC

[dx_twisted]

This just in today and I wanted to share it with you guys. I know that this pyramiding scheme is OLD news, but the amount of what they have gathered is unbelievable. These couples were arrested in the Philippines and was the owner of a company called "NewG". Hell, by the sound of its name along, obviously it is not legit. So, how did they manage to get that huge amount of money invested in their scheme? Despite the fact that this bogus scheme has been used by fraudsters long time ago before Bitcoin ever existed. Well, I do think that those people who have invested didn't learn any lessons in the past.

What really made me worried is that even the arrest has been done, there's a chance they might prove themselves not guilty once it got into court proceedings. All those investments were made through Coins.ph (Philippine's top financial services platform for Bitcoin) and upon checking by the company representatives in hopes to return all those money invested, it has been checked and emptied. The transactions that were been made was all untraceable, so its impossible to retrieve all those BTCs, thanks for its anonymity feature  

Source: http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/world/couple-arrested-for-alleged-bitcoin-pyramid-scam-that-amassed-php900-million/ar-AAvKgNj?li=BBr8Mkn&ocid=TSHDHP

[joniboini]

What a shocking news. They used the same old trick, promising a lot of return in a short amount of time, how can those people fall for it?
Are you from Phillippines by the way?

What really made me worried is that even the arrest has been done, there's a chance they might prove themselves not guilty once it got into court proceedings. All those investments were made through Coins.ph (Philippine's top financial services platform for Bitcoin) and upon checking by the company representatives in hopes to return all those money invested, it has been checked and emptied. The transactions that were been made was all untraceable, so its impossible to retrieve all those BTCs, thanks for its anonymity feature  

From where did you get this conclusion? From what I understand, police already have enough proof of their transaction via Coins.ph.
They don't have to recover the funds to prove that the couples are guilty.

What troubles them (who invested in that NewG), is that it doesn't seem possible to recover their funds.
Quoting from the news you shared above.

Victim Rotskie Bautista told ABS-CBN News that he and his friends pooled their money so their investment could grow fast. They ultimately ended up investing about PHP15 million (US$288,692), an amount he now realizes he’s not likely to get back.

“It doesn’t seem possible, because it already happened. Even if he goes to jail, we don’t know where to get the money, because we found out that his accounts have been checked and they’re all empty. His properties are now legally attached, as requested by other investors, [and] his vehicles, luxury cars, are also gone,” he said in Filipino.

[dx_twisted]

From where did you get this conclusion? From what I understand, police already have enough proof of their transaction via Coins.ph. They don't have to recover the funds to prove that the couples are guilty.

I'm a law student and as per our constitution, this kind of scam related to digital stuffs is not yet covered. Bitcoin is not yet regulated by our government nor taxable. If found guilty, they will just be punished for a minor offense no matter how huge the amount was been amassed. In fact, pyramiding scam is bailable, being outside of jail gives you the opportunity to prepare your defenses. Also, there's a theory that before the arrest, they were already been protected by the police and backed up by local politicians from where they reside. That's the reason why all of the suspect accounts were already been cleared and all of its assets are legally owned and documented.

[joniboini]

I'm a law student and as per our constitution, this kind of scam related to digital stuffs is not yet covered. Bitcoin is not yet regulated by our government nor taxable. If found guilty, they will just be punished for a minor offense no matter how huge the amount was been amassed. In fact, pyramiding scam is bailable, being outside of jail gives you the opportunity to prepare your defenses. Also, there's a theory that before the arrest, they were already been protected by the police and backed up by local politicians from where they reside. That's the reason why all of the suspect accounts were already been cleared and all of its assets are legally owned and documented.

Wow, that really sucks. If that theory is true, I wonder how influential those couple in Philliphines. What is the reason that made police and politicians protected them? Any theory on this? There must be something in there.

[neliawesome]

Yes I saw the news also and its really horrible. I am just curious why those investors trusted to invest that big amount of money without assurance.That is really crazy why they easily fall in that scheme.They should think first before lending money to someone even if its a relative or friends.For sure those scammers will be freed because there might be lapses or might be back-up by higher officials.They can easily pay those officials to get away or lets say that those scammers will be rot in jail but still those fooled investors can no longer get back their money.Thats the lesson to be learned really that never invest into things that theres no assurance.Even the name of bitcoin is drag in those silly acts.Many people who doesnt know and even dont understand what happened they said that it is really true that bitcoin is a scam.

[Bessta]

This kind of news is pulling down bitcoin and making me hard to explain to prospective investors the legitimacy of bitcoin. A lot of people would have a second thought in investing on
 bitcoin and other altcoins for fear of getting scammed.  The scammers should be punished of lifetime imprisonment for taking advantage and amassing wealth at the expense of poor investors.

[BenOnceAgain]

What really made me worried is that even the arrest has been done, there's a chance they might prove themselves not guilty once it got into court proceedings. All those investments were made through Coins.ph (Philippine's top financial services platform for Bitcoin) and upon checking by the company representatives in hopes to return all those money invested, it has been checked and emptied. The transactions that were been made was all untraceable, so its impossible to retrieve all those BTCs, thanks for its anonymity feature 

Source: http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/world/couple-arrested-for-alleged-bitcoin-pyramid-scam-that-amassed-php900-million/ar-AAvKgNj?li=BBr8Mkn&ocid=TSHDHP

Wow I'm really sorry to hear about this.  People need to always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is.  I hope they are able to recover the coins, potentially offering these people a deal if they return whatever they've stashed.  I find it hard to believe that they blew through $17 million, but hey I guess people can always find ways to waste money.

There are plenty of opportunities in Bitcoin and the crypto economy.  "Get rich quick" is never as quick or easy as it sounds, it's a false lure.

Best regards,
Ben

[Ginzink]

What i do not get is the fear this can create.
When people were tricked by Nigeria letters, buy drugs, buy weapons etc. Does that mean fiat should not be allowed? It is people who are stupid, and criminals that are the problem. And cash is harder to trace than bitcoin isnt it? Off course anonymous coins makes crypto as bad as cash maybe, but not worse.

[dx_twisted]

This kind of news is pulling down bitcoin

It's been almost a week since the couple's arrest and I'm following this news from time time for some development. In my opinion, both camps (suspects and victims) can be blamed for pulling Bitcoin down.

Suspects --- Using the BTC name to lure investors because it is the current trending type of investment.

Victims --- As per interviews, a spokesperson of a group that combined their investment into a total of almost $5M said that, "they were attracted to invest due to the fact that Bitcoin is the real deal and with what NewG is offering who can't refuse as it sounds pretty convincing". Also, they prefer to grow their money in an easy way instead of trading.

As I have stated above, suspects pulling down Bitcoin's representation because they use it into their illegal activity. While the victims, due to their ignorance and lack of initiative to make their own research migh cause an enigma or doubt to people who were just starting to become interested in entering (invest) the digital market.

[joniboini]

It's been almost a week since the couple's arrest and I'm following this news from time time for some development. In my opinion, both camps (suspects and victims) can be blamed for pulling Bitcoin down.

Suspects --- Using the BTC name to lure investors because it is the current trending type of investment.

Victims --- As per interviews, a spokesperson of a group that combined their investment into a total of almost $5M said that, "they were attracted to invest due to the fact that Bitcoin is the real deal and with what NewG is offering who can't refuse as it sounds pretty convincing". Also, they prefer to grow their money in an easy way instead of trading.

As I have stated above, suspects pulling down Bitcoin's representation because they use it into their illegal activity. While the victims, due to their ignorance and lack of initiative to make their own research migh cause an enigma or doubt to people who were just starting to become interested in entering (invest) the digital market.

There's a high possibility that this news will turn out like what you've said (suspects and victims actions make Bitcoin price got decreased). Even though from my perspective it's kinda irrational. First and foremost, this kind of scam can happen to any investment or asset or project, not exclusively to Bitcoin, that's why blaming Bitcoin for the victim's faults is kinda misleading. The same thing is true regarding the scammers, they can use any kind of things to scam people.

If there's a follow up for this news, I think it should be about how people should be cautious in any kind of investment that he wanted to join in. However, most media will use this issue for their own interest, not the truth.

[gawer33]

@joniboini they using bitcoin success, some of the people are ignorant here they will follow which one is trending. if they heard bitcoin some of them will think this is legit even without any research. if they got scam they will blame it on bitcoin. I already tried to warn some of them, what reply I got is hatred.

[joniboini]

@joniboini they using bitcoin success, some of the people are ignorant here they will follow which one is trending. if they heard bitcoin some of them will think this is legit even without any research. if they got scam they will blame it on bitcoin. I already tried to warn some of them, what reply I got is hatred.

Err, sorry your message is kinda hard to understand. Let me clarify it, I understand at least 2 points from your post:
1. People tend to follow the trend, without any research of it (in this case, about investment).
2. People love to blame Bitcoin for their stupidity of not doing any deep research beforehand.

What kind of warning did you give them? That NewG is a scam?

[coinwizard_]

With that kind of anonymous money they probably paid off the legal team, judges, police, etc. and will get a small sentence, if they even get a sentence at all. As drugs aren't involved, they will get away with a slap on the wrist

[joniboini]

With that kind of anonymous money they probably paid off the legal team, judges, police, etc. and will get a small sentence, if they even get a sentence at all. As drugs aren't involved, they will get away with a slap on the wrist

Even the Congress of the United States or any other developed countries can be corrupt too, so I guess this is a possible scenario.
And yeah, I've mostly watched Jon Stewart's The Daily Show (though it is not him who run that show anymore) as my primary source of news about the United States. Am I biased? Probably. But not as biased as Fox News (oh wow).

[Ucy]

People have been making untraceable transactions with coins, cowries, and paper Currencies. It nothing new my friend.

[TheGodson]

Interesting read, but the article is getting a key term wrong. The scam being described was not a Pyramid Scheme, but a Ponzi Scheme. It is important to understand the difference.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3319781.msg34674779#msg34674779

[Cryptotina]

I do wonder how those people they tricked felt knowing they got scammed. Why do they fall for such cheap trick anyway. It's kinda sad though, but now I do believe Bitcoin is the greatest scam of the century.