Canadian scammers face two years in prison for defrauding a 64-year-old woman of $ 140,000 worth of Bitcoin assets by impersonating HitBTC exchange
Oregon’s attorney’s office announced on Monday that two Canadian brothers pleaded guilty to defrauding a 64-years-old Oregon woman with more than $ 140,000 in Bitcoin currency after they created a fake Twitter account to impersonate crypto exchange based in Hong Kong HitBTC. The brothers then tricked the woman by asking her to contact @HitBTCAssist for assistance and asked her to share her account details.
The brothers were then able to take control of her account and transfer her 23 BTC to one of their own accounts on Kraken.
Since flying from Canada on July 18, FBI agents have arrested Karanjit at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. He was then brought back to face the trial in Washington, Canada. And Jagroop turned himself on Monday, according to the report.
Jagroop Singh Khatkar, 24, surrendered to federal authorities because of a negotiated agreement. Karanjit Singh Khatkhar, 23, appeared with his brother before US District Judge Michael H. Simon in federal court in Portland.
Everyone pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. Both will serve a two-year sentence when authorities announce their sentences on March 17. Jagroop is still completing his university degree, awaiting sentencing.
The woman will get her money back when US attorney assistant Quinn Harrington receives a check for $ 142,349 from the brothers. This prepayment, along with the US $ 6,000 currency and the Canadian $ 230 confiscated by law enforcement, is equal to the value of the Bitcoin stolen from the victim.
The woman who watched the hearing on Monday and asked not to be identified. She said to Oregon Live: “I really feel sorry for them. I also have a son that 27. I hope they can turn their intelligence into something more beneficial.”
Next March, Singh Khatkhars must return to be sentenced.
What is HitBTC?
The development of the HitBTC platform started in 2013 with an investment of US $ 6 million, since cooperation between software developers, financial experts and traders.
HitBTC is Europe’s leading bitcoin exchange, offering cryptocurrency trading services to institutions, traders and individual traders worldwide. The exchange was established at the end of 2013 and is operated by Ullus Corporation.
HitBTC offers trading operations for the most popular digital currencies (BTC, LTC, DOGE, QCN, NXT, FCN, BCN and XMR) and popular currencies (EUR, USD). For fiat deposits/withdrawals within the European Union, SEPA transfers are available and wires from other countries are also accepted.
HitBTC claims to focus primarily on the deployment of advanced technologies for cryptocurrency trading. The core matching engine is declared as the most advanced technology product in its class.
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