Chinese couple dupes 8000 people in cryptocurrency scam

Colombo: A Chinese couple and a Sri Lankan masterminded a cryptocurrency scam where they duped 8000 people of Rs 14 billion since 2020, media reports said.
Sri Lankan Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has launched an investigation into this financial fraud. Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said the alleged fraud suspects had invited selected individuals to five-star hotels. Later, the Chinese couple and the Sri Lankan conned them of high profits by earning their trust to invest in cryptocurrency, reported Sri Lankan media Daily Mirror. However, when the investors tried to withdraw the profits they had earned through the investments, the suspects had not allowed them to withdraw the funds. According to SSP Thalduwa, a number of complaints had been received at the Financial Fraud unit of the CID.

Post thorough investigations, they had arrested the Chinese couple at the Bandaranaike International Airport. The arrest took place when the couple and the Sri Lankan tried to flee the country. Currently, the Chinese couple is in remand custody, reported Daily Mirror.
The Sri Lankan involved in the fraud was arrested on October 11 and was later released on bail after being produced in court. The spokesman said several other suspects were also arrested over the fraud and were remanded.
Meanwhile, India has recently witnessed a wave of financial frauds through instant microloan lending applications and cryptocurrency transactions. The use of proxies to dupe Indian nationals and money laundering is rampant. According to the investigation agencies, Chinese citizens or firms were involved in most of these scams and malpractices.

Application-based instant microloan lending scams: Crackdown on the illegal app-based instant microloan lending companies started in India in late 2020. The Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO of Delhi Police), Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Hyderabad Police, through various successful operations, unveiled the modus operandi of groups involved in these scams. They arrested at least half a dozen Chinese nationals in such cases. To the dismay of the agencies, many such fraudsters escaped to China and continued their operations with impunity.
Through the arrest of eight culprits, IFSO learned that they used to extort people on the pretext of providing loans through Chinese applications. They used to blackmail the borrowers with the information gathered on these apps. After that, they used to send the defrauded amount to China through cryptocurrency. The IFSO also identified the crypto accounts of the three Chinese nationals involved in the case. (ANI)