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Police in Thailand have arrested a Chinese national, Liang Ai-Bing, who is accused of leading the multimillion-dollar FINTOCH crypto scam. The scheme tricked nearly 100 people in China out of more than $14 million between December 2022 and May 2023.
Local reports say Liang was the main figure behind FINTOCH, a fake DeFi investment platform that promised investors big daily profits. He didn’t work alone, he led a team of five who built and promoted the platform as a safe blockchain investment offering 1% daily returns. The scammers used a mobile app, fake reviews, and aggressive social media marketing to lure victims.
FINTOCH even claimed to be linked to the global investment bank Morgan Stanley and featured a fake CEO named “Bob Lambert.” Later, it was discovered that the so-called CEO’s photo actually belonged to an American actor.
Chinese police have identified four other suspects, Al Qing-Hua, Wu Jiang-Yan, Tang Zhen-Que, and Zuo Lai-Jun. Only Zuo has been arrested so far in China and was released on bail, while the others are still on the run.
Blockchain researcher ZachXBT uncovered that the group had already escaped with around 31 million USDT. They reportedly transferred the money across several blockchains, including Tron and Ethereum, after victims complained they couldn’t withdraw their funds.
Liang’s arrest came after Thai and Chinese police worked together, sharing information that led to a search warrant for his home in Bangkok. Authorities found that Liang had been hiding there since late last year, paying about $4,600 a month in rent. He was living alone and has now been charged with illegal possession of a gun and ammo, as well as entering Thailand unlawfully.
He will soon be sent back to China, where he faces further charges related to the FINTOCH fraud.
This case is part of a wider crackdown on China-linked scams. Just last month, Chinese national Chen Zhi was accused of running a massive crypto and human trafficking ring, while another fraudster, Zhimin Qian, often called China’s “goddess of wealth,” admitted to running a crypto scheme that cheated over 128,000 victims between 2014 and 2017.