A 23-year-old Ukrainian named Vyacheslav Leybov was robbed on the popular tourist island of Phuket, Thailand. The incident occurred during his visit to a friend on Friday, November 8. The victim transferred over 8.56 million baht (approximately $249,000) in USDT stablecoins to the assailants.
According to the victim, the incident took place when he visited his 18-year-old friend, Alfred Chernysuk, around 10:45 PM. At the entrance, he was greeted by a friend of Chernysuk's, 21-year-old Armenian citizen Arman Grigoryan, who led Leybov into a room.
Initially, Leybov was chatting with other guests on the balcony. Then, when he went to the restroom, he was ambushed by two men with their faces covered. They bound his hands and feet with ropes and plastic ties. Subsequently, Arman, wielding a hammer, threatened to break Leybov's fingers if he didn't transfer 500,000 Tether USDT. The other robber concealed his face and brandished a long knife.
Leybov recounted that he managed to persuade the criminals to lower the ransom amount. After transferring 8.56 million baht (around $249,000), the attackers tied him to the bed, warned him not to contact the police, took his belongings, and fled.
Eventually, Leybov freed himself. He approached the hotel reception, where he learned that Arman and Alfred had rented the room. He then rode his motorcycle to Phuket Airport, but didn’t see any of the suspects, so he went to the police.
On November 11, law enforcement located and arrested four foreigners suspected of robbing Leybov. The police identified them as 21-year-old Armenian Arman Grigoryan, Ukrainians Alfred Chernysuk (19) and Ruslan Musalev (22), and 21-year-old Russian Miraz Atoyan. The suspects were detained that night at the Palm Inn hotel in the Takua Pa area.
Interestingly, the hotel owner informed a local TV channel, One 31, that he witnessed Leybov being tied up but thought it was a filming for YouTube, as he heard no sounds of struggle.
According to police, one of the suspects regularly purchased USDT stablecoins from Leybov and was aware that he possessed significant amounts of crypto-assets.
Source: The Nation, Bangkok Post
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