Pakistani police officer Ali Raza, who served in the Counter-Terrorism Department, was arrested for his role in the kidnapping of a crypto trader and the theft of $340,000 in USDT. Eight other people, including two police officers, were implicated in the crime.
The victim, trader Mohammad Arsalan Malik, said he was invited to a meeting to exchange dollars, but soon a police van without license plates drove up to the restaurant. Plainclothes men took him to an unknown location and forced him to transfer cryptocurrency under threat. Later, his phone was reset to factory settings, and Malik himself was left near the mausoleum.
The investigation has already seized assets worth $220,000 from the suspects, including cryptocurrency, cash, a car, and prize bonds. The court has authorized the week-long arrest of the main figure in the case.
The Inspector General of Police previously stated that the authorities would not cover up criminals within their ranks. He promised to punish anyone caught in such fraud.
This incident occurred against the backdrop of other high-profile crimes related to cryptocurrency. Last month, the CEO of hardware wallet company Ledger was kidnapped. The criminals reportedly demanded a large ransom in cryptocurrency and even sent a video of the assault to the victim's colleagues.