Foreign gang allegedly extorts Russian couple of crypto worth US$50k in Thailand

A Russian couple in Koh Samui in southern Thailand claims that a gang of six foreign men – including Russians, Kazakhs and a German – extorted them of cryptocurrency worth US$50,000, or 1.89 million baht.

On Sunday, 31 year old Evgeny Abdullin and his wife Ekaterina Abdullin filed a complaint at Koh Samui Police Station. The couple said that six foreign men forced them into transferring their digital currency on September 15.

Evgeny said he was sitting in a coffee shop in Koh Samui when six foreign men came into the cafe and encircled him. Evgeny said that a German man named Salman Almaty told said that he had met him and Ekaterina once before in Russia.

Then, Salman demanded that Evgeny transfer him US$3 million (112 million baht) in cryptocurrency, Evgeny told police. However, the couple only had US$58,000 worth.

Evgeny said he was scared the men would hurt him, so he transferred the gang US$50,000 worth of digital money. He said that Salman wrote down his phone number and said he would be back to collect more.

CCTV footage pictures the men leaving the cafe. Five of them get into a black van and one rides away on a red Honda Click motorbike.

The next day, September 15, Evgeny said he went out to eat when he noticed he was being followed, so he returned home.

On September 18, Evgeny said he got a call via Telegram requesting more cryptocurrency to be transferred via Bybit. However, the couple didn’t have anything left. So, they pondered what to do for a few days and then decided to file a police complaint.

The police’s initial investigation used the CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators. Police say the foreign men include two Russians, two Kazaks, one German, and one foreign man of unknown nationality. The Honda Click was found to be a rental from Pattaya.

Police say that their investigation so far reveals that Salman, the German, flew out of Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 18. One of the Kazakh men flew out of Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 20, long before Evgeny filed the police complaint, said police.

The remaining four perpetrators have probably already fled Koh Samui, said police.

SOURCE: KhaoSod