Taichung police yesterday arrested four men in connection with what authorities described as the first “bitcoin robbery” case in Asia.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office has pressed charges against the four men for robbery, forcible confinement and fraud.
Police said the four suspects convinced a man surnamed Tai (戴) to sell them bitcoin, and as they met to conclude the deal, they assaulted Tai and seized his smartphone to transfer more than NT$5 million (US$170,969) in the cryptocurrency to an unspecified Chinese account.
The suspects held in detention are surnamed Shih (施), 23; Lin (林), 20; Huang (黃), 25; and Hsiao (蕭), 23.
Police were still looking for another man believed to be the mastermind behind the plot, Taichung First Police Precinct Criminal Investigation Section chief Wu Po-hsi (吳柏羲) said.
The suspects were likely associates of a criminal ring, which devised the setup after learning that Tai, who operates an information technology company in Taipei, owned bitcoin, Wu said.
The suspects communicated online with Tai to purchase 18 bitcoin for NT$5 million, sending photographs of cash in bundles to convince him, police said.
“Tai was accompanied by a friend surnamed Hu (胡) to Taichung on Feb. 10,” Wu said. “After enticing Tai to enter his password and open his bitcoin account, the suspects then beat Tai and Hu up, knocking Tai unconscious.”
“They then seized Tai’s smartphone and transferred the 18 bitcoin into an account in China, which could be accessed by associates of the suspects,” Wu added.
The noise from the altercation alarmed residents, who notified the authorities, police said, adding that Tai put up a fight and managed to flee the house, but fell down at a street corner.
Police said that when officers arrived at the scene, Huang told them he had rented the house and that the noise resulted from a fight during a party, adding that nobody wanted to press charges.
However, the officers decided to investigate and learned of the alleged robbery, which Wu said was the first reported bitcoin robbery in Asia.
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