A Thai actor involved in a Bitcoin scam that cost a Finnish man $34 million says he’s innocent of any wrongdoing.
A 22-year-old Finnish man, Aarni Otava Saarimaa, was the victim of a Bitcoin scam in Thailand. He was persuaded to invest over 5,500 BTC in a venture that would use the funds to invest in Dragon Coin, another cryptocurrency. One of the reasons the venture caught his eye was that it involved a popular Thai actor, Jiratpisit “Boom” Jaravijit. The actor finally made his first court appearance where he maintained his innocence of the fraud charges being levied against him.
A Family Affair
This particular Bitcoin scam is interesting on several levels. One, it has an actor of some notoriety in Thailand. Two, it’s a family affair. The actor, several of his siblings, and even his parents are, or may be, charged with fraud and money laundering.
Jiratpisit “Boom” Jaravijit showed up early for his court hearing in order to avoid reporters. Despite law enforcement saying they have the goods on him, the actor says that he’s completely innocent of all charges. Overall, he spent three hours being interrogated by police.
The key suspect in the case, Parinya Jaravijit, the actor’s older brother, has still not been found. “Boom” is currently out on bail and says he does not know where his brother is.
Possible Resolution to the Bitcoin Scam
The third interesting feature of this entire scam is that some of the charges may be dropped. The victim has reportedly reached a settlement with two of the alleged perpetrators, one of whom is the actor.
Details of the settlement were not disclosed, but if Saarimaa does agree to it, he can then withdraw his complaint. At that point, the charges of fraud will be dropped. One would assume that the charges of money laundering could still be in effect. It appears that the actor is only charged with fraud at the moment as it seems that others, notably his parents, were the ones responsible for moving the stolen bitcoins around.
Unlike many other cryptocurrency scams, it looks like this one will end in a good way for the victim. This should serve as a reminder to always do due diligence when investing. There are plenty of scammers out there, just waiting to part you from your fiat or cryptocurrency.
Do you think the actor is innocent or guilty of fraud? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of The Nation and Shutterstock.
