KATHMANDU, July 13: Police have arrested five people, including four Bangladeshi nationals, on charges of defrauding people through fake overseas employment offers on social media and engaging in illegal cryptocurrency transactions.
A team from the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau arrested the suspects at Tribhuvan International Airport while they were attempting to flee to Bangladesh.
Those arrested have been identified as 21-year-old Subash Kumar Mandal of Ramgopalpur Municipality-9 in Mahottari, currently residing in Koteshwor, Kathmandu, and Bangladeshi nationals MD Zubayer Ahmad, 25, MD Nur Alom, 26, MD Nasim Mia, 24, and MD Rani Kamal, 27.
Deficit of Pro-Bitcoin Political Leadership
According to the bureau's preliminary investigation, the group posted misleading advertisements on Facebook claiming that people could secure jobs in Qatar without attending interviews.
Victims who responded to the advertisements were instructed to download suspicious mobile applications, through which money from their bank accounts was allegedly transferred to other accounts without authorization.
The investigation has also revealed that the suspects used the proceeds of the fraud to conduct illegal cryptocurrency transactions, including trading Binance and USDT.
All five have been booked under the Electronic Transactions Act, 2006. The Cyber Bureau has obtained a five-day remand from the Kathmandu District Court and has begun further investigation.
