Swede Arrested in Thailand Over Crypto Fraud

A Swedish man was arrested in Thailand this Friday over an alleged cryptocurrency scam.

Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson was taken into custody on Koh Chang, an island off the coast of Thailand that is popular with backpackers.

According to US authorities, Karlsson opened an investment website, Eastern Metal Securities, with 12 other people back in 2013.

He falsely claimed that he was selling gold investment products that would, by this author's estimate, provide a 450-fold return. If this did not happen, Karlsson said, he would return a minimum of 97 percent of funds invested.

Significantly, the Swede directed his clients to 'invest' using Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term. Karlsson was probably hoping those transactions would be anonymous and make it impossible to track him down.

Real estate magnate

The group managed to get 3,575 'customers' to use their services. Those people are estimated to have deposited over $11 million.

After they had received a sufficient number of deposits, the group of alleged scammers shut down the website and ran off with their clients' cash.

According to the US Justice Department, Karlsson put the funds into real estate in Thailand.

Because of this, Karlsson was placed on an Interpol wanted list for fraud and Money Laundering Money Laundering Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Read this Term. US authorities also issued a wanted notice for him in March of this year after one of his victims complained to local authorities.

And after American investigators informed local police that Karlsson had fled with his Thai wife to Koh Chang, they went to arrest him.

The alleged fraudster is likely to be extradited to the US in the next couple of days. According to The Phuket News, Karlsson admitted to running the site under interrogation.

If prosecutors really bring the cosh down on him, Karlsson could face over 20 years in prison.