Four foreign nationals have been arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a Ukrainian man in Phuket, in which the victim was forced to transfer cryptocurrency worth 8 million baht.
The incident occurred on Friday when 23-year-old Viacheslav Leibov, the Ukrainian victim, visited a friend’s room. There, he was held at gunpoint by armed men and forced to transfer approximately 8.56 million baht in cryptocurrency into the robbers’ accounts.
Around 1 a.m. on Monday, police from Kamala and Phuket stations arrested the four suspects at a hotel in Tambon Khok Kloi, Takua Thung district, in neighboring Phang Nga province. The suspects were identified as Arman Grigoryan, 21, an Armenian; Alfred Chernyshuk, 18, a Ukrainian; Ruslan Musaiev, 22, a Ukrainian; and Mraz Atoian, 21, a Russian.
During questioning, the suspects claimed they had initially attempted to hire a driver to take them to Malaysia. When the driver refused, they were dropped off at the hotel, where they booked four VIP rooms but only stayed in two in an effort to avoid detection.
One of the suspects had known the victim through cryptocurrency trading and had learned that Leibov possessed a large amount of crypto assets. This information led him to plan the robbery, enlisting three accomplices.
All four suspects are currently in custody, facing charges of armed robbery and illegally detaining and confining another person.
