Hai police raided a three-story luxury house in Bangkok’s Wang Thonglang district and arrested Chinese national Liang Ai-Bing. Authorities believe he was the mastermind behind a massive crypto Ponzi scheme. The deal reportedly targeted around 100 investors, mostly from China, lured by overly good promises. to be true.
The platform with big claims and bigger lies
At the center of the case is a DeFi platform called FINTOCH, which operated from December 2022 to May 2023. The platform attracted attention by offering a suspiciously high price. return of 1 percent per day and alleging ties to Morgan Stanley.
That connection was completely false and Morgan Stanley quickly came out to deny any implication.
Track the money trail
On-chain analysts dug deeper into the data and found that the platform moved approximately 31.6 million USDT across the Ethereum and Tron bridges. While Thai news reports mentioned the fraud was worth around $14 million, blockchain evidence points to a much larger sum. being involved.
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From a fake CEO to an expensive rent
To add a layer of false legitimacy, the scheme featured a fictional CEO named “Bob Lambert” and even used a photograph of actor Michael Provenzano to sell the illusion. Liang rented the property in Bangkok for about $4,645 a month, making it the headquarters of the scam.
The platform attracted users in with bold claims, misleading links and false guarantees, convincing many to trust what it seemed a credible operation.
Facing music in two countries
Liang now faces multiple charges, including illegal possession of a firearm and entering Thailand without permission. Chinese and Thai law enforcement teams worked together behind the scenes, sharing intelligence and laying the groundwork for Liang’s extradition to China to face further legal action.
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Why this case stands out
This particular scam is one of the biggest crypto fraud cases to occur in 2023. It caught the attention of regulators across Asia. YoIn May 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore warned of the dangers of similar setups. pointing to how serious the consequences can be this type of platforms.
A reminder to the crypto world
Cases like this are a wake-up call. For everyday investors, it shows how important it is to dig into the details before trusting a platform with their money. Big daily returns and flashy names are often a cover for something much riskier. For regulators, it highlights the continued need for international cooperation and stricter oversight of the crypto space to detect scams before they snowball.
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Key takeaways
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Thai police arrested Chinese national Liang Ai-Bing in Bangkok for allegedly running a major crypto Ponzi scheme through the FINTOCH platform.
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FINTOCH promised daily returns of 1 percent and falsely claimed ties to Morgan Stanley, which publicly denied any involvement.
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Researchers traced around 31.6 million USDT moved through Ethereum and Tron, suggesting the scam was larger than initial reports of $14 million.
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The platform posed as “Bob Lambert” using a stolen photo, while Liang ran it from a luxury home in Bangkok.
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Liang faces multiple charges and possible extradition as China and Thailand cooperate in one of Asia’s largest crypto fraud cases in 2023.
The post Thai Police Dismantle $14M Crypto Ponzi Mastermind in Bangkok appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
