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š¤£šFive Years on the Run, Caught in Seconds ā Thanks to a Cigarettešš¤£
A $13M crypto fugitive caught ā over a cigarette
For nearly five years, he slipped through the cracks. But his run didnāt end with a high-tech sting or international manhunt. It ended because he flicked a cigarette on a Seoul street.
From scammer to street litterer
Police in Seoulās Gwanak District stopped a 60-year-old man on Wednesday after he tossed a cigarette butt and tried to bolt. When asked for ID, he refused. Instead, he offered officers cash, begged them to let him go, pretended to make a phone call, then tried running again.
This time, it didnāt work.
Officers cuffed him ā and quickly realized this wasnāt just a careless litterbug.
Turns out, he was the mastermind of a 17.7 billion won ($13 million) crypto scam that duped 1,300 people between 2018 and 2019. He vanished in 2020 and had been on the run ever since. Now, heās been handed over to prosecutors, facing 10 charges including fraud and assault.
Other crypto scammers who blew it
This isnāt the first time a fraudsterās downfall came from a dumb mistake.
James Zhong (2012): stole 50,000 bitcoins from Silk Road. Hid them in physical wallets around his house. Years later, burglars broke in. He called the cops. The IRS got involved. Game over. Arrested in 2019, sentenced in 2023 ā just one year.
Heather Morgan & Ilya Lichtenstein (2016): behind the Bitfinex hack ā 119,000 bitcoins stolen. Instead of quietly laundering billions, they left a sloppy digital trail. Morgan doubled down by posting bizarre rap videos as her alter ego āRazzlekhan.ā Both arrested in 2022. This year, Lichtenstein got five years. Morgan, 18 months.
The takeaway
Sometimes itās not the blockchain or the tech that trips them up. Itās cigarettes. Burglars. Bad rap videos.
$BTC $BNB #BNBATH900
For nearly five years, he slipped through the cracks. But his run didnāt end with a high-tech sting or international manhunt. It ended because he flicked a cigarette on a Seoul street.
From scammer to street litterer
Police in Seoulās Gwanak District stopped a 60-year-old man on Wednesday after he tossed a cigarette butt and tried to bolt. When asked for ID, he refused. Instead, he offered officers cash, begged them to let him go, pretended to make a phone call, then tried running again.
This time, it didnāt work.
Officers cuffed him ā and quickly realized this wasnāt just a careless litterbug.
Turns out, he was the mastermind of a 17.7 billion won ($13 million) crypto scam that duped 1,300 people between 2018 and 2019. He vanished in 2020 and had been on the run ever since. Now, heās been handed over to prosecutors, facing 10 charges including fraud and assault.
Other crypto scammers who blew it
This isnāt the first time a fraudsterās downfall came from a dumb mistake.
James Zhong (2012): stole 50,000 bitcoins from Silk Road. Hid them in physical wallets around his house. Years later, burglars broke in. He called the cops. The IRS got involved. Game over. Arrested in 2019, sentenced in 2023 ā just one year.
Heather Morgan & Ilya Lichtenstein (2016): behind the Bitfinex hack ā 119,000 bitcoins stolen. Instead of quietly laundering billions, they left a sloppy digital trail. Morgan doubled down by posting bizarre rap videos as her alter ego āRazzlekhan.ā Both arrested in 2022. This year, Lichtenstein got five years. Morgan, 18 months.
The takeaway
Sometimes itās not the blockchain or the tech that trips them up. Itās cigarettes. Burglars. Bad rap videos.
$BTC $BNB #BNBATH900
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