Police in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, have arrested four men for defrauding investors through a bogus cryptocurrency investment program.
The police say the group amassed at least 6 billion yen, or about 55 million dollars, from more than 10,000 people across Japan.
Those arrested on Monday include Ishida Shoji, the operator of investment business “OZ Project.”
Sources say investigators suspect that the group lured investors four years ago, promising returns 2.5 times the amount of their investment four months later.
They also suspect the group held seminars in various parts of the country, saying that returns will be paid by bitcoin or the company’s own point-based system.
Sources also say the group explained that the money will be invested through an AI-equipped automatic trading system, but no such AI-based trading system existed.