Police logo. Photo by Asia Economy DB
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Employees of the U.S. cryptocurrency investment company Blockchain Terminal (BCT) are under investigation by the police over allegations of embezzling investment funds worth hundreds of billions of won.
On the 25th, the Seoul Bangbae Police Station announced that they are investigating A, a Canadian national and CEO of BCT, along with Korean associates, on charges of fraud.
According to the police, 89 investors filed complaints against company officials last December, claiming that the amounts they invested in BCT for nearly two years were in a 'non-withdrawable' status.
The victims assert that when BCT became unable to return the original investments, it engaged in a 'Ponzi scheme' by selling products under different names, estimating the damage to be at least 70 billion won.
Introduced to Korea in 2018, BCT promoted itself by claiming that it could generate high profits through arbitrage trading, exploiting price differences of cryptocurrencies across exchanges.
The company attracted investors through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) method, which is considered highly risky, and there were criticisms that no institutional mechanisms were in place to control such risks.
It is also reported that BCT officials are under investigation for investment fraud charges in the United States.
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