Estonian police and FBI arrested Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, who are suspects in the cryptocurrency fraud case. This is one of the largest cases of such type in Estonia, writes ERR News.
Suspects were arrested on the 20th of November. According to court information, suspects defrauded an enormous amount of people, estimated number of victims reaches hundreds of thousands. The overall sum of money that criminals got is 575 million dollars. They used a multifaceted scheme, and also got the victims to invest in Polybius Bank. The such bank doesn’t exist and the victims never got their dividends. After that, criminals used shell companies to buy real estate and luxury cars.
Investigation of fraud was one of the largest ever done in Estonia, and overall more than 100 officers were involved. That includes 15 FBI agents from the USA.
Attorney Nick Brown for the Western District of Washington told the media that size and scope of the scheme were astonishing. Suspects used the allure that encapsulates deals with cryptocurrency and took advantage of investors’ lack of attention.
Estonian State Prosecutor Vahur Verte pointed out that whenever money is involved, one must be extra cautious and pay attention to every detail. He said: «Regardless, it is better to safeguard one’s assets, rather than try and retrieve them through criminal and court proceedings.»
Oskar Gross, head of the Cybercrime Bureau of the National Criminal Police added that this kind of investigation always takes time and involves investigators from different countries. He said that officials always do the best they can, and suggested that there are better ways to turn cryptocurrencies into business than fraud.