The Knox County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lee Poh for allegedly scamming $850,000 from two men in a crypto scheme.
KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — The Knox County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man who they said swindled $850,000 from two men in a crypto scam.
Lee Poh, 28, is charged with fraud, theft by deception and conspiracy to commit a financial crime.
According to a warrant for Poh’s arrest, Poh contacted the two victims through the app Telegram and told them that if they invested money into his investment business, they would see a large return.
The warrant said the victims sent Poh several large amounts of cash to be invested. The victims attempted to redeem their alleged earnings via a website that turned out to be fake.
According to the warrant, Poh contacted the victims on July 31 and set up a time to meet the victims to pick up another $300,000. When Poh arrived at the business just off Maynardville Highway, he was taken into custody.
The victims told police the total amount they were defrauded was $850,000.
“The scam was designed to appear as though victims could receive a large payout related to Bitcoin, contingent upon paying taxes on the expected proceeds,” KCSO wrote on Facebook following Pho’s arrest. “Many victims were scammed out of substantial amounts of money prior to the commencement of the investigation.”
Knox County property crime detectives ask anyone with information related to this investigation or similar scams to report it to law enforcement.
