Four suspects arrested in Japan over $54 million crypto scam

The Aichi Prefectural Police (Japan) arrested four suspects in connection with a cryptocurrency fraud scheme called Oz Project, which caused losses of up to 6 billion yen (about $54.3 million). Asahi Shimbun Digital reports.

The creators of the scheme offered algorithmic trading based on artificial intelligence on behalf of users on the project’s platform. More than 20,000 individuals were victims.

Seiji Ishida, Yukihiro Yamashita, Takuya Hashiada and Masamichi Tosima promised to multiply the initial amount by 2.5 times within a four-month period. They counted on recruiting the participants’ friends and acquaintances.

Investors who were deceived filed civil lawsuits in Nagoya and Tokyo, seeking compensation for losses.

Earlier in Brazil, the Federal Police liquidated Bitcoin Banco Group, with losses from its actions exceeding $300 million for more than 7,000 people.

Follow ForkLog news on Twitter!