Chinese national behind $14M FINTOCH crypto ponzi arrested in Thailand

A Chinese national behind the multimillion-dollar FINTOCH crypto Ponzi scheme has been arrested by police in Thailand.

According to local media, Liang Ai-Bing was the mastermind behind the fraudulent platform that posed as a legitimate DeFi investment opportunity and allegedly defrauded nearly 100 victims in China of over $14 million between December 2022 and May 2023.

Liang, however, was not acting alone but rather led a five-man operation that built and promoted FINTOCH as a blockchain-based investment platform promising high returns through daily interest payouts. 

The scammers operated a mobile app and targeted retail investors with aggressive marketing, promising 1% daily returns via investments in high-yield DeFi products.

They also showcased fake testimonials to further build trust with the victims.

FINTOCH even claimed to have ties with investment bank Morgan Stanley and featured a fake CEO named Bob Lambert, whose profile picture turned out to be that of an American actor.

Chinese authorities have identified the other members of the group as Al Qing-Hua, Wu Jiang-Yan, Tang Zhen-Que, and Zuo Lai-Jun, of whom only Zuo was arrested in China and later released on bail, while the rest remain at large.

On-chain researcher ZachXBT found that the group “exit scammed” with over 31 million USDT by bridging funds to wallets across multiple chains, including Tron and Ethereum, after users reported being unable to withdraw.