The Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) is prosecuting three men suspected of damaging their victims, for whom they promised a cryptocurrency, due to the crime of continuing fraud, which caused particularly great damage, and the well-founded suspicion of attempted fraud.
BRFK reported on police.hu on Thursday that the perpetrators had approached a cryptocurrency trader to buy a virtual currency at a favorable price.
The victim was met at a hotel in the capital, where the cryptocurrency in the agreement was apparently transferred from one of their digital wallets in exchange for cash equivalent to thirty million forints.
According to the police, the victim left satisfied and later discussed with his clients that he would buy from them for another sixty million forints. It was only afterward that he noticed that the electronic currency that appeared in his digital wallet was in fact worthless, even though its symbol was deceptively identical to that of a known so-called stabilizing currency, he added.
Investigators identified, apprehended, and interrogated the three suspected perpetrators, a 29-year-old man, a 26-year-old man, and a 63-year-old man. The two younger suspects were detained; one of them has since been arrested, the other is under criminal supervision, while their older companion, who, according to the investigation, played a role in mediating the injured client, can defend himself at large.
Investigators in the capital seized computer equipment, several luxury cars and three million forints from the men involved in the proceedings, and two – currently unknown – perpetrators are still being sought. The 26-year-old suspect has meanwhile agreed to compensate the victim, having already paid him seven million forints with the help of his lawyer.
The BRFK pointed out that transactions with cryptocurrencies should be treated with the same care as for traditional means of payment. Also, buy digital currency only from a verified source! The police wrote.
police.hu
