How Did a Fake Crypto Scam Bankrupt a Kansas Bank?

Mariana van Zeller said pig butchering is what took down the chief executive of a bank in Kansas. The bank went bankrupt because he had stolen $400 million from the bank. The con was a fake crypto investment. Mariana van Zeller said the approach was an investment opportunity, and that his case was more the investment opportunity than a romance. Sometimes the scam starts with a romance and then becomes an investment pitch, and sometimes the pitch is only the investment opportunity.

She said he started by putting his own savings into what he thought was a legitimate crypto account. The platforms look completely legitimate, and the balance looks like the money is going up. At first withdrawals are allowed so confidence grows and more money goes in. Months into the investment scam, the scammers said he had to pay a fee, like a 10% tax, before he could take out the millions he had just made. He kept paying the fee. Then he started using money from his customers.

Joe Rogan asked how a man who works in banking gets sucked into the scam. Mariana van Zeller said the scammers are really good at what they do. The exchange then turned to why the government is not doing more to protect people, and to holding online platforms accountable for allowing the scam to happen.