Ukrainian Loses $250K USDT to Armed Robbers in Thailand

As the second leg of the crypto bull market ramps up, criminals are intensifying their search for digital assets to partake in the gains traders will record in the coming months. The story of a Ukrainian man who lost roughly a quarter of a million dollars to armed robbers over the weekend buttresses this.

According to a report by Bangkok Post, armed robbers ambushed Viacheslav Leibov, the 23-year-old Ukrainian who is a tourist in Thailand, in his friend’s hotel room on November 8 and wiped his crypto wallet of more than 8 million baht ($250,000) in Tether (USDT).

Man Loses Crypto to Robbers

A few hours after the incident, Leibov reported to the Kamala police station in Phuket. He revealed that his 18-year-old Ukrainian friend, Alfred Chernyshuk, invited him to spend some time in his hotel room at about 10.45 pm on Friday. On getting there, Arman Grigoryan, an  Armenian 21-year-old friend of Chernyshuk, received Leibov into the room. 

Leibov, Chernyshuk, and Grigoryan moved to the balcony and talked for a while. Eventually, Leibov needed to use a restroom and went to the hotel room’s toilet, where he saw two men waiting for him.

The men in the toilet, who had their faces covered, ambushed Leibov and tied his arms and legs with ropes and cable wires. One of the masked men held a long knife, while Grigoryan had a hammer. The Armenian demanded that Leibov transfer 500,000 USDT to their crypto wallet; otherwise, they would break his fingers.

After some back and forth, the gang agreed to halve the ransom upon Leibov’s request. The Ukrainian transferred a total of 8.56 million baht. The men dragged Leibov to the room and tied him to the bed. They collected their belongings and exited the room after warning the victim not to report the crime to Thailand authorities.

Thailand Police On the Case

Before the victim could make his way to the police station, he freed himself from the ropes and cables and approached the hotel’s reception to find out that his friend, Chernyshuk, had rented the room with Grigoryan. Leibov also went to the Phuket airport on his motorcycle but failed to find any of the suspects. Then, he headed to the police station to file the case.  

Leibov’s attack is among the numerous crypto theft cases recorded this year. In June, Cointab reported about a Popular UK-based crypto investor who lost over $$4 million to armed robbers in his home.