22-year-old cryptocurrency millionaire scammed out of more than 5,500 Bitcoins in Thailand

A 22-year-old cryptocurrency millionaire lost more than 5,500 bitcoins in a Thai investment scam, and a Thai film actor is suspected of being involved in the scam.

According to a report by the Bangkok Post on Monday, a group of Thais approached and lobbied Finnish businessman Aarni Otava Saarimaa in June 2017 to invest in several Thai stocks, a casino in Macau, and a new cryptocurrency called Dragon Coin. The group claimed that Dragon Coin could be used in casinos once it was issued. They also took Saarimaa to Macau casinos to prove the legitimacy of the plan. According to the report, Saarimaa, who participated in the plan, transferred a total of 5,564 bitcoins to the group.

However, after months of no returns on investment, Saarimaa, together with a local business partner, filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Department (CSD) in January, which considered the investment scheme a scam. The Correctional Services Department subsequently launched an investigation and alleged in its report that the group did not make any investment for Saarimaa, but instead cashed out all the bitcoins and deposited them into seven bank accounts. It is not clear when the group sold the bitcoin assets, but the Statistics Bureau said the scammers made a profit of nearly 800 million baht (about $24 million).

After a month-long investigation, the Correctional Services Department suspected that Thai film actor Jiratpisit "Boom" Jaravijit was involved in the scheme and arrested him last Wednesday. In addition, the Correctional Services Department also claimed that the actor's brother, Prinya Jaravijit, was suspected of being the "ringleader" of the scheme and that she traveled from Thailand to the United States via South Korea. The report said that the Correctional Services Department is currently working with US authorities to track down the main suspect.