Hong Kong bitcoin trader lured to bogus meeting and robbed of HK$1.4 million
Police are searching for five men, two who posed as sellers and three who attacked victim and took his bag
A citywide police search was under way on Friday for five men after a local bitcoin trader was lured to a bogus business meeting and robbed of HK$1.4 million (US$180,000) on a busy street in Hong Kong.
The five included two suspects who posed as sellers and arranged to meet the victim to trade bitcoin for cash, according to a police source.
“The other three attacked the victim and took his bag, containing cash and a mobile phone,” he said.
The attack happened in North Point, on Hong Kong Island.
As of just before noon on Friday, the five suspects were still on the run, according to police.
Did bitcoin just burst? How the cryptocurrency slump compares to history’s biggest fads
The victim is a 34-year-old Hong Kong man surnamed Lee, who was contacted via his WeChat account on Thursday morning. He was asked to go to the Starbucks outlet on Hennessy Road, Wan Chai for a business meeting at 4.30pm.
