Russian couple robbed of US$100,000 in bitcoin in Phuket
A Russian couple filed a complaint on Thursday saying they were the victims of strongarm robbery in their condominium in Phuket and forced to transfer US$100,000 (Bt3.2 million) worth of bitcoin,police said.
The couple, Maxin Lastouka, 27, and Nikulina Anna, 22, filed the complaint with the Chalong police station on Thursday morning, saying they had been robbed by a group of foreigners late Monday night.
There was no indication why they waited several days to notify police, although the assailants reportedly told them they would be killed if they reported the incident.
The complaint said several foreigners, who were believed to also be Russian, had stormed into their condominium in Tambon Rawai of Muang district.
The assailants allegedly stole three notebook computers, an iPhone X smartphone and their passports and also forced the couple to transfer the cryptocurrency.
The couple said they had been detained for six hours before the assailants fled. Lastouka said he had recognised one of the assailants because he had seen him in the area earlier.
Police checked the GPS signal of the stolen iPhone X, which indicated that whoever was carrying it had left Phuket, passed through Nakhon Si Thammarat and transited into Malaysia.
Police said they believed the assailants were a gang of Russian criminals who had monitored the couple for a while and attacked them after learning that they had cryptocurrency savings.