Two 36-year-old men have been arrested in Singapore after allegedly stealing $365,000 in cash from a Malaysian man who wanted to buy Bitcoin (BTC) from them, local media outlets reported Thursday, April 12.
The victim, Pang Joon Hau, had come to Singapore expressly to buy Bitcoins with cash, and believed both men to be Bitcoin sellers, arranging to meet them in his hotel on April 8.
The two men are said to have assaulted both Mr. Pang and his broker, fleeing with the cash.
One of the accused, Mohd Abdul Rahman Mohama, allegedly claimed he was a part-time Bitcoin broker. He is reported to have given his accomplice Syed Mokhtar Syed Yusope about $10,000 and himself spent around $80,000 on luxury goods, including a Rolex watch worth $45,800. The remaining $271,000 are yet to be accounted for. The two were arrested April 9th and 10th, respectively.
At a press conference April 12, Singapore Commander of Central Police Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police Arthur Law said that it is “highly unusual” for people to transact Bitcoin in person, and that Singaporean police are now investigating the origins of Mr. Pang’s large sum of cash.
In January 2018, St. Petersburg crypto blogger Pavel Nyashin was robbed of 24 mln rubles in cash from a safe in his home, after “boasting” of his crypto-derived wealth online.