More than $200 million of assets seized from firm identified as VGlobal.
South Korean police have raided a Seoul-based cryptocurrency exchange over an alleged multi-level marketing fraud. The exchange, identified as VGlobal, according to a report by Bitcoin.com, stands accused of stealing millions of dollars from investors.
According to the Yonhap news agency, police raided 22 locations linked to the company, including its headquarters in Seoul’s Gangnam district, seizing company assets worth $214 million.
According to a local media report, the exchange’s multi-level marketing scheme involved its posing as a parent firm of established crypto exchanges such as Upbit and promising investors a threefold return on investment in six months alongside financial incentives for referring other investors to it.
The company’s CEO, identified only by the surname “Lee” and his partners have been accused of defrauding more than 40,000 people since August 2020.
The raids come a fortnight after South Korean minister Eun Seong-soo announced that more than 200 crypto exchanges in the country faced the risk of being shut down in September if they failed to follow relevant regulations.