BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - In a co-ordinated crackdown involving the FBI, Dubai Police Department and Chinese Ministry of Public Security, 276 people were arrested and at least nine scam centers used for cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes were dismantled.
These centers targeted Americans who have suffered millions of dollars in losses from such schemes, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The international crackdown last week was spearheaded by the Dubai Police. Among the 275 arrested by Dubai authorities were three defendants charged in the Southern District of California with federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. An additional person was arrested by the Thai Police.
Thet Min Nyi, a Burmese national, and three Indonesians - Wiliang Awang, Andreas Chandra, Lisa Mariam, and two fugitive co-conspirators have been charged with federal fraud and money laundering charges unsealed in San Diego Wednesday. Dubai Police arrested Thet Min Nyi, Chandra, and Mariam, while the Thai Police took Awang into custody.
In 2025, FBI San Diego agents opened a Homeland Security Task Force investigation after identifying multiple companies and individuals managing scam compounds conducting cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes.
According to the court records, the defendants recruited others to work at three different 'companies' that operated several alleged scam centers. They engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes through 'pig-butchering,' which is a type of fraud where scammers gain a victim's trust over time - through friendship or romance - before persuading them to send money to fake investments which the scammers then take.
FBI agents have identified numerous victims around the United States through complaints filed with its Internet Crime Complaint Center. So far, investigators have identified millions of dollars in losses caused by these cryptocurrency investment schemes operating across jurisdictions.
The Justice Department said Dubai Police Department, under the UAE Ministry of Interior, significantly disrupted the scam operations through their parallel investigation.
It also noted that Thailand's Royal Thai Police's Immigration Bureau, Foreign Affairs, and Anti Cyber Scam Center provided significant assistance.
U.S. authorities thanked Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for providing critical information for this investigation.
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