Former National Basketball Association player Isaac Edward Austin has been tied to receiving more than $800,000 from a Ghanian-based company in a bitcoin exit scam

The former professional basketball player, who retired in 2004, allegedly received $825,000 for posing as a trustee for two bitcoin trading firms, IEA and Tudor Trust. Austin was paid $11,000 per bitcoin by a Ghanian firm, according to a report published by GhanaWeb, but has yet to transact with the BTC on behalf of his client. The two associated trusts claim to utilize a cryptocurrency “auto-trading” program. 

Despite promising to pay back additional returns on the investments made by the Ghanian firm, Austin has yet to do so and continues to delay the repayment. 

An alleged victim in the exit scam told GhanaWeb that Austin has generated multiple excuses to cover for the lack of payment, 

He will take your Bitcoin and you will never get your investment back or your returns. On the day of payment, he will tell you story after story filled with lies of issues why the BTC couldn’t be delivered on the day of payment.

According to the victim, Austin blamed the delayed payment on suffering a heart attack and accidentally transferring the bitcoin to the wrong wallet. 

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.