According to the local edition of the Bangkok Post, the Thai police arrested a Russian citizen for providing tourists with cryptocurrency exchange services.
Thai police officers examined a number of online ads for the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies in the Koh Samui and Koh Phangan areas of Surat Thani, which are often visited by tourists from other countries. The phone numbers indicated in the ads, to which the WhatsApp accounts were registered, turned out to be linked to the bank accounts of Russian citizens Ibragim Gaitukiev and Maxim Varyukhin.
The investigators found that Gaitukiev and Varyukhin were managers of OM 118 Co on the island of Phangan in Surat Thani. As an office, the company used a house on Sri Tanu Beach, where the Plantasia Cannabis Collective store was located. A sign reading "Bitcoin" was placed in front of the store, and an advertisement for a cryptocurrency exchange was placed inside. Investigators believe that the store was also used as a place to conduct cryptocurrency exchange operations for tourists.
Police arrested 36-year-old Ibragim Gaitukiev at a house on Sri Tanu Beach on Tambon Koh Phangan Island in the southern province of Thailand. During interrogation at the police station, Ibragim Gaitukiev admitted that he and Maxim Varyukhin did provide services for the exchange of virtual assets to tourists.
Gaitukiev was charged with illegal management of a cryptocurrency platform. The police did not provide details about their actions in relation to Maxim Varyukhin.
Thai police officers examined a number of online ads for the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies in the Koh Samui and Koh Phangan areas of Surat Thani, which are often visited by tourists from other countries. The phone numbers indicated in the ads, to which the WhatsApp accounts were registered, turned out to be linked to the bank accounts of Russian citizens Ibragim Gaitukiev and Maxim Varyukhin.
The investigators found that Gaitukiev and Varyukhin were managers of OM 118 Co on the island of Phangan in Surat Thani. As an office, the company used a house on Sri Tanu Beach, where the Plantasia Cannabis Collective store was located. A sign reading "Bitcoin" was placed in front of the store, and an advertisement for a cryptocurrency exchange was placed inside. Investigators believe that the store was also used as a place to conduct cryptocurrency exchange operations for tourists.
Police arrested 36-year-old Ibragim Gaitukiev at a house on Sri Tanu Beach on Tambon Koh Phangan Island in the southern province of Thailand. During interrogation at the police station, Ibragim Gaitukiev admitted that he and Maxim Varyukhin did provide services for the exchange of virtual assets to tourists.
Gaitukiev was charged with illegal management of a cryptocurrency platform. The police did not provide details about their actions in relation to Maxim Varyukhin.
