A man has been arrested in Taipei on suspicion of fraud and money laundering using bitcoin ATMs, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said.
CIB Telecommunications Investigation Corp Deputy Captain Yu Wen-sheng (游文勝) on Thursday said that the investigation began after a person called the 165 anti-fraud hotline to inform the bureau that they had been defrauded when transferring bitcoin through a specialized ATM on Zhongxiao E Road Sec 4 in Taipei.
Investigators found that the ATM had been installed by a 42-year-old man surnamed Chuang (莊) who has a criminal record including fraud, Yu said, adding that fraud groups often use bitcoin ATMs to launder money.
Photo: AP
Chuang allegedly founded a company to import bitcoin ATMs from a foreign manufacturer and installed several of them in business areas in Taipei, the bureau said.
However, he did not report his business to the Financial Supervisory Commission, as required by the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), the bureau said.
The manufacturer told investigators that the ATMs usually come with a feature to verify the identity of people making transactions, but the feature was disabled upon Chuang’s request, it said.
The bureau said groups that defraud people via bitcoin ATMs usually immediately transfer the money to another wallet or change it to another cryptocurrency.
Chuang allegedly took a 6 percent fee for transactions through his ATMs without informing users beforehand, the bureau said, adding that it had identified six people who have this year fallen victim to his scheme.
Chuang allegedly also promoted his business in chatrooms that are frequently used by fraud groups, it said.
When arresting Chuang, police also seized five of his machines and more than NT$2.38 million (US$74,645 million) in cash, the bureau said.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is investigating Chuang on suspicion of breaching the money laundering act, it added
In March, the central bank warned people about cryptoasset fraud involving bitcoin ATMs, saying that such schemes have become a major type of investment fraud in Taiwan.
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