According to local reports, Iranian authorities have detained members of a network operating a fraudulent crypto system
Iran’s intelligence ministry confirmed yesterday that it has arrested several people for possible involvement in a fraudulent scheme related to cryptocurrencies. The Ministry of Intelligence (VAJA) confirmed the arrests in a statement, saying that the scam involved actors who tricked users into investing in King Money (KIM), a crypto product, with the offer turning out to be part of a Ponzi scheme.
King Money became known through advertising on social media, but users did not know that they were signing up for a non-existent speculative trade. The ministry stated that the parties were ultimately able to obtain a large sum of money by ripping off investors. The population had already been warned that King Money was a potentially fake offer aimed primarily at Iranians.
An investigation report from last year showed how shady the “Developer” with information about King Money. The team members involved in the project failed to provide basic information such as the actual names in the professional whitepaper of the currency. Instead, they chose nicknames. In response to the incident, the intelligence ministry urged Iranians to beware of investing in unstable markets such as the crypto market.
Iran has serious power supply problems, and cryptocurrency mining has contributed massively. In fact, the government had previously made several arrests related to illegal crypto mining farms that steal electricity.
In a speech to the cabinet in May, former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed concern about the strain on the power grid from mining cryptocurrencies, as 85% of crypto mining in the Asian country was unlicensed. All crypto activity was subsequently banned for about four months, but it seems that mining cryptocurrencies has never completely disappeared.
IRNA reports that on September 29, the Stock Exchange and Securities Organization discovered a secret prospecting operation that took place in the Tehran Stock Exchange building. Tavanir, the state Electricity Company, initially denied rumors of such activities, but since the public relations of the exchange itself tracked down the miners, it is obvious that illegal activities were in play. “During the supervisory proceedings of the Exchange and securities organization, a number of miners were discovered in the company’s building.”
The head of the Tehran Stock Exchange has since resigned following the incident, and it is expected that the vice president of the exchange, Mahmoud Goudarzi, will take over. Due to the exploitation of energy resources in the country, citizens were threatened by unplanned power outages with an impact on enterprises and farms. It remains to be seen how the country will handle cryptocurrencies from now on.