{"id":129444,"date":"2025-05-17T07:18:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T07:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=129444"},"modified":"2025-05-17T07:18:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T07:18:03","slug":"new-zealand-man-arrested-in-265m-crypto-scam-tied-to-fbi-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=129444","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand man arrested in $265M crypto scam tied to FBI probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsA man from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, has been arrested in connection with an FBI-led investigation into a global cryptocurrency fraud operation that allegedly stole $450 million New Zealand dollars ($265 million).<br \/>\nAccording to New Zealand Police, the man is one of 13 individuals charged after authorities executed search warrants across Auckland, Wellington, and California over the past three days.<br \/>\nThe charges stem from allegations that members of an organized criminal group manipulated seven victims to obtain large amounts of cryptocurrency, which was then laundered through multiple platforms between March and August 2024.<br \/>\nThe US Department of Justice has indicted the man under federal law, including charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, per the announcement.<br \/>\nSource: New Zealond PoliceRelated: Germany seizes $38M in crypto from Bybit hack-linked eXch exchange<br \/>\nScammer used stolen funds to purchase luxury vehicles<br \/>\nProsecutors allege the stolen funds were used to purchase $9 million worth of luxury vehicles and spent lavishly on high-end goods, including designer handbags, watches, and clothing, as well as services such as nightclub access, private security, and rentals in Los Angeles, Miami, and the Hamptons.<br \/>\nThe accused appeared in Auckland District Court and was granted bail with interim name suppression. He is scheduled to reappear on July 3.<br \/>\n\u201cWe have worked closely with our law enforcement colleagues in the United States in support of their investigation,\u201d the police stated. They added:<br \/>\n\u201cToday\u2019s search warrant and arrest reflects the importance of international partnerships where criminals are operating across borders.\u201d<br \/>\nThe investigation remains ongoing.<br \/>\nRelated:\u00a0Bybit hacker launders 100% of stolen $1.4B crypto in 10 days<br \/>\nCrypto thefts surge to $360M in April<br \/>\nDigital asset thefts skyrocketed in April 2025, with nearly $360 million stolen across 18 separate hacking incidents, according to data from blockchain security firm PeckShield.<br \/>\nThe figure marks a staggering 990% jump from March when reported losses stood at just $33 million. The sharp rise was largely attributed to a single unauthorized Bitcoin transfer that accounted for the bulk of the month\u2019s losses.<br \/>\nOn April 28, blockchain analyst ZachXBT identified a suspicious $330 million BTC transaction. The incident was later confirmed as a social engineering attack that targeted an elderly US resident, resulting in one of the largest individual crypto thefts to date.<br \/>\nMagazine: Binance Wallet \u2018killing\u2019 MetaMask and airdrops, Chinese RWA tokens: Asia Express<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/new-zealand-man-arrested-fbi-crypto-scam-265m?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsA man from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, has been arrested in connection with an FBI-led investigation into a global cryptocurrency fraud operation that allegedly stole&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129444"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}