The founder of a digital currency Ponzi scheme that allegedly made off with over $700 million has been arrested for sexually assaulting minors. Russ Albert Medlin is facing charges of fraud in the U.S but has been a fugitive for over six months.
Medlin was arrested in Indonesia, a report by Jakarta Globe reveals. Police in the capital Jakarta claim that he has been sexually assaulting minors for months now.
Medlin is the founder of BitClub Network, a scam that posed as a digital currency mining operation. Beginning in 2014, the company bilked at least $722 million from investors while falsifying its earnings reports. Two of Medlin’s co-conspirators are already behind bars as they await their sentencing.
Medlin has however managed to evade the authorities, until now. According to the report, the Jakarta police received tip-offs that several underage girls have been observed coming from his residence in the past few months. Upon investigation, the police managed to get two underage girls leaving his house three days ago. The two were 17 and 15-years-old respectively. They revealed that Medlin paid them to have sex with him.
The police arrested Medlin and are holding him as he awaits prosecution. He is charged with breaking the Indonesian Law on Children Protection and if convicted, he could face 15 years in prison.
Medlin has been sent to jail for assaulting minors in the past. In 2006, the District Court of Nevada sentenced him to two years behind bars for assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
The arrest, though unrelated to his Ponzi scheme, could finally see him face justice for BitClub. Medlin was declared a fugitive by Interpol in December last year and the DoJ has been pursuing him since. The Indonesian police have revealed that they are willing to extradite him to the U.S to face charges.
“We will continue to process R.A.M. in accordance with the law in Indonesia while waiting for an extradition request from the American Embassy, which has been communicating with us through the FBI’s legal attaché,” the police stated.
Two of Medlin’s co-conspirators, Matthew Goettsche and Jobadiah Weeks, are behind bars. As CoinGeek reported in March, the two were seeking release from jail for fear of contracting coronavirus.
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