During the raid, an unlawful firearm was discovered by Thai police as they proceed with efforts to have the suspect returned to China for formal legal proceedings.
A Chinese national sought for reportedly orchestrating a multi-million-dollar crypto Ponzi scheme, which preyed on nearly one hundred individuals in China, has been apprehended by Thai authorities.
Law enforcement personnel conducted a raid on a luxurious, three-level home located within Bangkok’s Wang Thonglang district, where the presumed suspect, Liang Ai-Bing, was taken into custody.
Authorities indicate that Liang was involved in a supposed five-member scheme that constructed and marketed a deceptive DeFi service named “FINTOCH” between December 2022 and May 2023.
The residence had been leased by him for approximately $4,645 monthly since the close of last year, during which time he was living solo while successfully eluding Chinese police officials, as stated in a regional news publication.
The action resulted from intelligence collaboration between law enforcement agencies in Thailand and China, and a search warrant was subsequently granted by a Criminal Court, the report confirms.
“It appears the team behind the ponzi @DFintoch has likely exit scammed with 31.6m USDT on BSC after the funds were bridged to multiple addresses on Tron/Ethereum and people reported being unable to withdraw,”
onchain sleuth ZachXBT tweeted in May 2023, revealing the scam.
Alleged FINTOCH Participants Identified, False Morgan Stanley Claims Debunked
The remaining alleged participants were previously named by Chinese authorities as Al Qing-Hua, Wu Jiang-Yan, Tang Zhen-Que, and Zuo Lai-Jun. Zuo was detained in China and later released with conditions; the other individuals reportedly fled the country.
The digital service, which was initially marketed as “Morgan DF Fintoch,” untruthfully alleged an affiliation with Morgan Stanley, a connection the investment bank publicly dismissed in 2023, categorically rejecting any partnership with the venture.
FINTOCH additionally showcased a fraudulent chief executive named “Bob Lambert,” whose supposed professional image was, in reality, taken from actor Mike Provenzano, who had previously appeared in numerous short movies and television programs.
Notwithstanding a cautionary notice which was issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in early May 2023, the scheme’s originators accumulated in excess of $31 million in investor capital before the entire operation imploded.
FINTOCH Rug Pull Highlights Rising Crypto Fraud Losses
The FINTOCH rug pull was identified by the bug bounty platform Immunefi as one of just two primary events that contributed to a 63% surge in financial losses within the crypto sector during the second quarter of 2023, compared to the corresponding timeframe in 2022.
Liang is facing accusations of possessing an illegal firearm and entering Thailand without authorization, with arrangements for his transfer to China currently being coordinated by relevant authorities, according to the official report.
The FINTOCH incident exhibits features analogous to wider cryptocurrency deceit operations which have been devastating to defrauded individuals across the globe.
The United States disclosed earlier this month that the forfeiture of 127,271 BTC, valued at more than $14.2 billion, was being pursued from Chen Zhi, the originator of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, in a legal action concerning “pig butchering” crypto schemes that forced human trafficking victims to work under duress of physical harm.
