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The Jakarta Metro Police Cyber Crime directorate has arrested Russ Albert Medlin, a U.S. national believed to be the uncertified owner of BitClub Network, a big crypto Ponzi scheme that allegedly swindled lots of user funds. The police took action after getting reports that Medlin is involving in a child prostitution ring.
The Jakarta Police apprehended Medlin in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Sunday. News has it that police officer interrogated three different women, with two being minors, who live in the same residence with Medlin. The two minors however confessed that they are involved in the child prostitution ring and that Medlin had been one of their consistent customers.
Medlin has been charged to court for sexual assault on minors, and the charge may hand him 15 years jail term. However, records have it that Medlin had been actively involved in several illegal activities similar to the present charge.
He had been convicted twice in 2006 and 2008 for crimes relating to child molestation and flagged by Interpol as a child molester; he was charged and jailed for two years for raping a 14-year old girl and for being in possession of child pornography.
Four Men Charged in Connection with BitClub Network $722 million Fraud Allegation
Earlier in 2019, four men were apprehended in connection to BitClub Network’s alleged $722 million fraud scheme. The four were arrested on the allegation of conspiracy in different countries.
Established in 2014, The BitClub Network claimed to be a Bitcoin mining investment firm. The Ponzi scheme also claimed to be a means of earning crypto in an innovative and lucrative way, was labeled fraudulent by U.S. Department of Justice after a charge was filed against the company in December 2019.
The filed charge claimed that BitClub Network is a Ponzi scheme paying old members with funds of new incoming members, and also alleged that the company’s administration carted away millions of dollars belonging to people.
BitClub Network was also accused of trying to sell its company shares without registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Investors Believe Dead Cryptocurrency Chief Gerald Cotton is on the Run with Funds
Meanwhile, in another development, Gerald Cotten, the founder of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX, with about 76,000 clients has reportedly died of complications from Crohn’s disease in 2018. The 30-year-old investor died in India along with the password to customers’ digital wallets worth £100 million.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) after a ten months investigation reported that Cotten has crookedly managed the company, qualifying the event as an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology.
Some of his victim’s wallets containing about C$4000,000, were held on an inaccessible laptop, while some others incurred a loss of about C$169 million. Further reports from the OSC claims that Quadriga had been in crisis before Cotten’s death, and this claim had raised foul play in the minds of clients, making them believe he might have faked his death and fled with their money.
The victims’ lawyers had however requested the Canadian police to exhume Cotten’s body to verify his death since last year, but up till this moment, the request is yet to be granted.
A recent report by watchdog claimed that Gerald Cotten ran QuadrigaCX as a form of Ponzi scheme, making customers lose about C$115 million (about £65 million today) through fraudulent trade.