Though crypto has been used for positive purposes across the globe, its negative use is nothing new. It has been used for different criminal activities, including scams. Dutch authorities announced recently that they have arrested a 26-year-old man allegedly for rug pull in betting platform ZKasino.
ZKasino Scam
ZKasino is a betting platform that can be used for online gambling using crypto. There is a range of tools and templates that can allow a range of users to work on crypto betting. Furthermore, there is no need to have coding experience. It enables users to transfer tokens between Ethereum and ZKasino chain.
It is globally ranked 38th for gambling in online platforms. Furthermore, it is useable on a range of programs which include Arbitrum, Fantom, Polygon, etc. The negative side of this platform is that there is no need for KYC, signups, and other procedures. As the result of no verification, there is a possibility of rug pulls and other scams happening to the customers.
Though the company claims to have fairness and transparency, there are various incidents where the users were scammed. In a recent development, Dutch authorities announced that they have arrested a 26-year-old linked to ZKasino. The mentioned person has been alleged for scamming a number of people through rug pull.
Arrest of Zkasino member
The arrest of the alleged ZKasino member was announced through the FIOD website. Financial crime authorities raided the mentioned person’s house and searched it. The raiding party seized various records which included physical and digital records. Furthermore, a whopping amount of assets were also seized. The value of assets seized amounted to 11.4 million euros (12.2 million).
The assets seized belonged to different types ranging from real estate to crypto as per the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service of the Netherlands (FIOD) statement. The detailed statement said that there is a possibility of discovery and seizure of more assets.
There is no clear mention of how the alleged person was involved in this scam. ZKasino had initially announced that it will allow token redeeming but it backed out of its promise soon after launch. Thus, users weren’t able to reclaim their tokens, creating a big controversy.
There were about 10,000 investors at the time of the launch of ZKasino, who had bridged tokens worth $33 million. It was clear from the change in policy that ZKasino was clearly a rug-pull scam. Dutch authorities wrote in the official statement that the investors were promised a return of their assets in 30 days but it didn’t happen.
Furthermore, the technical details of the smart contract is the proof that it wasn’t designed to return the assets. The statement also said that the suspect was being examined by a magistrate and the detention has been extended for two weeks. Authorities expect that a breakthrough regarding the scam will happen.
Affected to be repaid
The investigation is likely to continue and once the details are complete regarding the keys, the repatriation of funds will take place. Though it will take time there are increased chances that the repatriation of assets to the ZKasino affectees will take place. The alleged person had been in focus of authorities since 25 April and the outcoming details show that it won’t take much time to solve.
Conclusion
Dutch authorities have announced that they have arrested a suspect related to rug pull scam ZKasino. The mentioned platform announced return of assets after thirty days but it didn’t happen. The arrest of its member has been a breakthrough and there is a chance that the affectees might get thier funds back.
