igor musatov arestovan 15686636981758354031Russian former ice hockey winger Igor Musatov has been arrested in Moscow over an illegal Bitcoin trade and purportedly cheating a businessperson, Crime Russia reports.
The deal was shady from the start. Engaging in large-scale digital assets transactions is like walking on thin ice. It is a public knowledge after all! Unfortunately for the CEO of an IT company, it did not ring any bells.
An information agency from Russia, TASS, has reported that the former ice hockey champion met with the IT company CEO last year and reportedly lured him into his non-existent cryptocurrency business and offered to sell him 103 Bitcoins for forty-five million rubles (Rubles 45 million), which is seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000).Â
Startling details of the illegal Bitcoin tradeÂ
Apparently, the illegal Bitcoin trade cost the CEO less than six thousand eight hundred dollars ($6800) for each BTC, much lesser than the market price of that time. The CEO decided to bet the farm and go for the deal.
Reportedly, the businessman then met with one of the Musatov’s representatives anonymously, handed over the cash to him only to be left alone in the lurch.
Following the incident, the CEO tried to contact Musatov several times but in vain. Neither Musatov appeared nor did the Bitcoin. Thus, began the legal scuffle last year. And while the ice hockey professional denied the accusations, the CEO took to the police to take action against Musatov and arrest him on account of deceiving him with a fraudulent cryptocurrency transaction.
Since it isn’t clear exactly when the deal took place and what the market rate was at that time, there couldn’t be an exact estimation of the loss.
Cryptocurrency industry rife with murky deals
Meanwhile, the frequent outbreaks of these cryptocurrency scams serve as a stark reminder of how fragile and susceptible the industry still is.
Last year, a South Korean Bitcoin tycoon got tricked into a Bitcoin scam worth over 2 million dollars ($2.3 million). He agreed to sell Bitcoin in return for the mentioned amount however was produced with outright fake banknotes.
Although the alleged scammer was caught and arrested later, it goes to show how a Bitcoin trade without a centralized exchange platform backing can quickly turn into every cryptocurrency trader’s nightmare.
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