South Korean police are investigating a possible crypto investment scam between the Seoul-based Shinil Group as the important figure, Korea JoongAng Daily reported July 31. Shinil Group (Shinil) allegedly promised to pay investors in gold from a sunken Russian shipwreck.

Authorities are also investigating whether the suspects from Shinil group tried to profit from fluctuations in the share prices of Northern manufacturer Jeil Industries. Shares increased by 30% on July 17 when previous leader of Shinil Group Ryu Sang-mi became the second biggest shareholder at the Jeil Steel. When prices fell the following day, Jeil claimed it was not related to Shinil’s ship salvage undertaking.

Yesterday, Cointelegraph noted that Le Minh Tam, the CEO of Vietnamese cryptocurrency mining company Sky Mining, disappeared with investor and company funds allegedly worth $35 million. Though he hasn’t yet been found in person, Tam cried for “all ” to shareholders in a Facebook article on Wednesday, explaining that the organization ’s profitability had fallen due to market volatility.

To encourage investors to purchase the organization ’s own cryptocurrency, Shinil allegedly promised to reconcile them with all the gold in the ship. The coin allegedly brought 60 billion won ($53.7 million) in investments out of approximately 100,000 investors since its launching this year, though the organization ’s CEO Choi Yong-seok has admitted that there is no obvious proof that the ship contained anything of worth.
Seoul’s Gangseo District Police subsequently issued a travel ban on Choi and so are allegedly planning to question and other parties related to the investigation. As per Korea JoongAng Daily, the investment scam also involved Yu Ji-beom, mind of a Singapore-based affiliate Shinil Group.

Earlier that month, Shinil announced it had found the Dmitrii Donskoi, a Russian armored cruiser that spanned 113 decades ago, according to Reuters.
Yu supposedly established crypto exchange Donskoi International Exchange and spread articles regarding the shipwreck on social media. In accordance with his acquaintances, Yu has been convicted of real estate fraud and is currently in Vietnam to prevent the investigation.