Domestic female crypto millionaire in China deceived in the U.S. by "Middle Eastern royal family" with a carefully planned scam, losing 60 million yuan

According to Caixin, a female entrepreneur from southwestern China’s cryptocurrency sector was caught in a meticulously designed scam trap in the United States, losing over $9.4 million (approximately 60 million RMB).

The victim, Ms. Lü, is the CEO of a domestic computing power technology company, whose Bitcoin mining pool reportedly once accounted for 9% of the global Bitcoin hash rate at its peak.

This scam was orchestrated by a pair of brothers in the United States. The older brother, Zubair Al-Zubair, claimed his uncle is the Saudi Minister of Defense, holding Middle Eastern family funds, international business connections, and U.S. local government resources.

The younger brother, Muzamir Al-Zubair, watched the American TV series "Billions," mimicked the characters, and played the role of a hedge fund manager.

To enhance the credibility of the scam, the Zubair brothers also successfully recruited Michael Smedley, chief of staff to the mayor of East Cleveland, providing official cover for their scheme.

Smedley used his position to secure state government funds, issue official documents, and even appointed Zubair as the "International Economic Advisor" of East Cleveland.

With the involvement of municipal officials, the brothers signed a cryptocurrency mining farm development contract at the city hall with the female millionaire, further boosting the scam’s credibility.

It is understood that the brothers used the scam proceeds to purchase over 1,000 cryptocurrency mining machines, which were transported to a so-called industrial park, then secretly moved away and resold at a price of $5.5 million for huge profits.

Currently, the scam brothers have been sentenced to 24 and 23 years in prison respectively, ordered to pay a total of $21.2 million in compensation and taxes. Smedley, who assisted in the scam, was also sentenced to over 8 years in prison.

In summary, this case reveals a typical method of international scam crimes: first forging identities, recruiting government officials, creating false business opportunities, and meticulously designing schemes that make it difficult for investors to distinguish truth from falsehood, ultimately causing huge financial losses.

#加密货币诈骗 #Investment trap