The office of the Attorney General in the state of Kansas, United States, says it successfully thwarted an attempt by Bimbo Toyin Akinyemi of Nigeria to defraud a local of crypto.
According to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, Akinyemi had promised the victim a large return for investing in cryptocurrency.
Court documents indicate Akinyemi entered into a contract with the unnamed victim on July 15 2023 where the victim was to purchase Bitcoin and deposit it into Akinyemi’s ‘investment wallet address’ for a return on investment between $500 to $1,240.
Akinyemi exploited the consumer’s lack of understanding about cryptocurrencies, misleading them by concealing that fund transfers could be traced and falsely claiming that depositing funds into a digital wallet would ‘activate’ it as an investment account.
After the deposits, Akinyemi transferred the funds into his own account.
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— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 2, 2022
Akinyemi then mailed the victim a fraudulent $1,000 check, which was never cashed. According to the Attorney General’s Office, the victim is entitled to a refund of the $250 investment and Akinyemi is responsible for $50,000 in civil penalties for five violations, $4,000 in investigation fees and expenses, as well as all court costs.
This provoked the Charities and Financial Scams unit of the Attorney General’s office to file a lawsuit against the perpetrator under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. The authorities seized Akinyemi’s wallet which reportedly ‘contained half of a Bitcoin, valued at more than $28,900 and other digital currency valued at more than $4,000.’
A local judge issued a default judgment against Akinyemi after they failed to respond to the summons and petitions sent to their email address. In addition to the financial penalties, Akinyemi has been prohibited from engaging in consumer transactions within the state.
“Cryptocurrency is a borderless asset that allows international scammers to target and defraud Kansans from the comfort of a keyboard,” said First Assistant Attorney General, Nathanial Castillo.
“Scammers realize they have a better chance at getting away with fraud if they convince victims to send cryptocurrency. Kansans should always thoroughly scrutinize anyone they meet online before sending payment in cryptocurrency.”
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and the FBI were also part of the investigations on the matter, the AG’s Office said.
REPORT | Over 80% of All Investment Fraud Losses are Crypto Related, says Latest #FBI Report
In 2023, the losses reported due to Investment scams became the most of any crime type tracked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the organization said in a report.
When looking… pic.twitter.com/p1GW9sOmDx
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) May 11, 2024
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