The 'self-made' millionaire Bitcoin investor who introduced cryptocurrency ATMs across Australia, has been charged with drug trafficking.
Sam Karagiozis, 27, was arrested and charged by Australian Federal Police on Thursday for allegedly trading 30 kilograms of drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine, and ketamine.
He has been charged with 14 offences relating to drug trafficking, importation, and possession.
It is a spectacular fall from grace for the self-made millionaire man who once called Nick Kyrgios among his friends and drove a Bentley.
Sam Karagiozis, 27, was arrested and charged by Australian Federal Police on Thursday for allegedly trading 30 kilograms of drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine, and ketamine
Karagiozis, who sold Bitcoin to tennis star Nick Kyrgios (left) and his brother Christos (right) had previously predicted the price of a single Bitcoin would hit $100,000 by the end of 2018
AFP and AUSTRAC raided Karagiozis's properties in Bulleen, Templestowe and Malvern last week where they found steroids, cash, as well as cryptocurrency items.
The raid came after police had conducted a search in relation to the investigation in Mernda and Kew in October 2017 that led to the arrests of two men.
Police allege Karagiozis had conducted an organised crime scheme that involved trafficking drugs bought off the dark web using bitcoin accounts and legitimate business for payment and distribution.
AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) have also restrained property value totalling $2million, including bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, cash, and cryptocurrency.
Karagiozis's two digital currency exchange businesses have also been suspended.
'When you take the profit out of crime, you hit offenders where it hurts most. Combined with serious criminal charges attracting long prison sentences, this highlights how trafficking drugs is simply not worth it in the long-run,' Detective Superintendent Hopkins said.
Karagiozis appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday, 7 March where he was refused bail.
The Bulleen man rose to fame with his rags to riches success story in 2017.
At 15 he left school to work full-time at McDonald's, and by his early 20s he had amassed a multi-million dollar property portfolio, before the Canberra-based entrepreneur made the brave decision to invest in cryptocurrency.
His success with cryptocurrency trading saw him invited into Kyrgios' players box at the 2018 Australian Open (He is pictured with Kyrgios' mum Norlaila)
When the price of a single Bitcoin peaked at more than AUD$25,000 in late-2017, Mr Karagiozis and many other early investors were all too happy to tell of their succes.
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