Hong Kong police have arrested a man accused of stealing $191,085 from a cryptocurrency trader in what turned out to be a bogus transaction. No funds were recovered at the time of the suspect’s arrest and investigations are ongoing to determine if the man had accomplices.
No Funds Recovered
Hong Kong police recently arrested a 24-year-old conman accused of vanishing with a crypto trader’s $191,085 (HK$1.5 million). The con artist now faces a possible ten-year jail term if convicted, a report has said.
According to a South China Morning Post report that details the suspect’s plan, no funds were recovered when law enforcement agents finally apprehended the 24-year-old on May 10. The only items reported to be recovered were a mobile phone, necklaces, and the clothes the suspect wore at the time the crime was allegedly committed.
Explaining how the suspect managed to vanish with the unnamed cryptocurrency trader’s funds, Hong Kong police inspector Tong Sin-tung of the Yau Tsim criminal investigation unit said:
As instructed, the victim transferred HK$1.5 million in digital money into a designated e-wallet. The [buyer] claimed he needed to go to the staff room to get money and exited [the meeting room].
Further Arrests a Possibility
Hong Kong police believe the suspect may have used a rear exit of a shop in Tsim Sha Tsu to get away. However, before vanishing, the suspect is reported to have left the cryptocurrency trader and her colleagues locked up inside the shop. After realizing they had been duped, the cryptocurrency trader called the police.
Meanwhile, the report said detectives have yet to determine if the suspect had specifically set up the office to con the crypto trader. The police are also looking at the possibility that the suspect may have accomplices, Tong added. The inspector added the police are not ruling out the possibility of more arrests.
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