Bitcoin Ponzi Scammer Arrested by Jakarta Police for Sexual Assault

Russ Albert Medlin — co-founder of alleged crypto Ponzi scheme BitClub — was arrested in South Jakarta under accusation of sexual assault on minors.

Local news outlet Jakarta Globe reported on June 16 that local law enforcement arrested Medlin on Monday. Jakarta Police chief Yusri Yunus explained that law enforcement received “tip-offs from the public that underage women were often seen” at his residence. When surveilling the place where he was residing, the police saw three teenagers leave his house:

“The officers intercepted and questioned three underage women, around 15 to 17 years old. They admitted the owner of the house had hired them to have sex with him.”

The Law on Children Protection introduced in the country in 2014 punishes adults who engage in sexual acts with minors with up to 15 years in prison. 

Medlin was sentenced for sexual abuse

Medlin was also reportedly sentenced to two years in prison for similar crimes two times. Once in 2006 and one in 2008, both times by the District Court of the State of Nevada, after sexually abusing a 14-year-old and storing images of the act. 

At the end of December 2019, U.S. authorities arrested three men accused of taking part in the BitClub alleged Ponzi scheme, now they may also take hold of Medlin. Jakarta Police's director of special crime investigation Roma Hutajulu said:

“We will continue to process [Russ Albert Medlin]. in accordance with the law in Indonesia while waiting for an extradition request from the American Embassy, which has been communicating with us through the FBI's legal attaché.”