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🚨 A Cigarette Leads Police to $13M Crypto Scammer
A 60-year-old fugitive accused of running a ₩17.7 billion ($13 million) cryptocurrency fraud has been arrested in South Korea — all because of a careless cigarette toss.
For nearly five years, the man managed to evade capture. But his run ended not through an elaborate sting operation, but after he discarded a cigarette on a street in Seoul’s Gwanak District.
From Street Littering to Major Arrest
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police, officers stopped the suspect for littering on Wednesday. When approached, he refused to present identification, attempted to bribe the officers, and repeatedly tried to flee — even pretending to make a phone call while attempting to hail a taxi.
The officers soon discovered he was wanted for orchestrating a crypto investment scam between 2018 and 2019, which defrauded around 1,300 victims. He had been on the run since 2020, with 10 active arrest warrants for fraud, assault, and other charges. The suspect has now been handed over to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office.
Costly Mistakes in Crypto Crime History
This is far from the first time a crypto criminal has been caught due to a careless blunder:
James Zhong (2012 Silk Road Theft): Stole 50,000 $BTC (worth over $5.6B today) but stored it in physical wallets at home. A burglary years later triggered an IRS investigation that exposed him. He was sentenced in 2023 to one year in prison.
Heather Morgan & Ilya Lichtenstein (2016 Bitfinex Hack): Linked to the theft of 119,000 BTC. Their laundering attempts left a clear digital trail, and Morgan’s public rap persona, Razzlekhan, drew even more attention. They were arrested in 2022 and later sentenced in 2024.
Takeaway
In the crypto world, even the most calculated schemes can unravel from the smallest slip-ups — sometimes as simple as tossing a cigarette on the street.
