Dutch authorities arrest man for scamming people out of millions in crypto on Zkasino

A 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with an investigation into a large-scale scam via gambling platform Zkasino. Customers had put more than 30 million American dollars (27.9 million euros) worth of cryptocurrency into the platform.

The arrest happened on Monday, but was not announced by Dutch financial crimes inspectorate FIOD until Friday. Around 11.4 million euros worth of assets was seized, including property, a luxury car, and cryptocurrency.

The investigation started on April 25 based on notifications on X and information that FIOD employees had received. Zkasino presented itself as both a gambling platform and casino, and investors backing it were told that they would make their investment back within 30 days.

That did not happen. FIOD said that the way the platform worked gave the impression that the aim was never to return the money.

The inspectorate worked with employees from the cryptocurrency platform, Binance, resulting in millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies being secured. The investigative service said that they are in contact with people who were scammed.

“To completely return the millions invested to the victims, it is a technical necessity that the people involved in this scam cooperate.”

More arrests could follow, FIOD said.