Two Malaysians face 10 years in jail and caning over $37K BTC scam

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Two men in Malaysia could be the first to face physical punishment over a BTC-related crime. The two allegedly lured three women to invest in their BTC scheme for guaranteed returns over a seven-month period. However, they failed to deliver and fled with their investors’ funds.

Reduan Ismail and Adan Ibrahim were charged at a magistrate’s court with three counts of fraud, the New Strait Times reports. The suspects reportedly lured 24-year-old Nur Md Noor to invest RM26,000 ($6,417) in their BTC scheme—known as Actionmode—in July 2020, along with 49-year-old Rozidah Yahaya who invested RM120,000 ($29,618).

The two also lured Normah Shaari, 60, to invest RM4,500 ($1,110) in their venture, prosecutors said.

The alleged scammers reportedly lured the three women with promises of guaranteed returns, promising them a 20% profit payout over the course of 7 months.

According to the publication, their charges fall under Section 420 of Malaysia’s Penal Code. If convicted of their crimes, they face ten years behind bars. They also face severe fines and whipping.

In their bail hearing, their lawyer argued that the judge should be lenient as the two have been “cooperating in the investigations with the investigation officer since the beginning of the case.”

Malaysia has seen its fair share of cryptocurrency scam over the years. In January, a Malaysian university student lost RM84,600 ($20,881) to a BTC scam. The scammers promised the student a lucrative return in just 72 hours. It was only after making several payments to the fraudsters that the student realized it was a scam, but by then, it was too late.

In December, police in the capital Kuala Lumpur arrested eight key members of a notorious BTC scam. They had allegedly defrauded several investors of over RM4.7 million ($1.16 million). Using a native token known as AliCoin, the scam promised returns of up to 15%. Each token cost $1.16, with the minimum investment capped at $11,600. Following a series of raids, the police arrested the eight and recovered 11 phones, 20 ATM cards, five luxury vehicles and $27,000 in cash.

In April 2020, Malaysian police also arrested 14 Chinese men who had allegedly defrauded hundreds of investors. The men posed as successful businessmen and investors and mainly targeted Chinese victims as CoinGeek reported.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of groups-from BitMEX to Binance, Bitcoin.com, Blockstream, ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple and Ethereum—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.