Police arrest 2 men in Hong Kong in connection with alleged US$30 million fraud after collapse of Atom Asset cryptocurrency exchange
- More than 330 alleged victims have contacted force’s commercial crime bureau over Atom Asset Exchange
- Police say exchange froze all asset transactions last month and that ‘mastermind’ is believed to have fled Hong Kong with proceeds of crime
Police arrested two men on Friday in connection with an alleged fraud involving a Hong Kong-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange, in which hundreds of investors worldwide were said to have lost a total of US$30 million.
A total of 337 alleged victims had contacted its commercial crime bureau since November 16, Acting Chief Inspector Lee Wai-chung on said Friday.
A police investigation found that Atom Asset Exchange (AAX) froze all asset transactions and withdrawals from November 12 and blamed a need for system maintenance, but users were still able to log into accounts to check balances.
“We believed at that time the ‘mastermind’ had already left Hong Kong with the private key and cryptocurrency wallet, which stores US$30 million worth of cryptocurrency assets,” he said.
Lee said they believed the “mastermind” and others involved in the case were still on the run. Police have not ruled out the possibility of more arrests.
The next day, AAX announced an extension of its system maintenance for seven to 10 working days. The company issued a notice on November 19 that it was considering issuing bonds to raise capital and stay in business.
