Group Arrested in China for Laundering $1.7 Billion in Cryptocurrency – This is What Happened
Police in China arrested 63 people accused of laundering ¥12 billion ($1.72 billion) via crypto.
The Public Security Bureau of Inner Mongolia’s Tongliao city in northern China stated that, starting from May 2021, this criminal group converted the proceeds from illicit sources - including pyramid schemes, fraud, and gambling - into the major stablecoin tether (USDT).
Furthermore, the funds were distributed across multiple crypto accounts, which the suspects allegedly used to convert the money back into Chinese yuan.
The statement said that the group used Telegram, an app blocked in China, to recruit people across the country to work for them. These individuals would then open crypto accounts used to launder the funds, the police said. Each participant in this scheme received a commission based on the amount of crypto transactions they processed.
The organization had a clear division of labor, said the authorities. After each money laundering operation, gang leaders, team leaders, cashiers, bottom-level money launderers, and individuals at other levels would receive commissions in different proportions.
An officer described as "the relevant person in charge" was quoted in the statement, saying that laundering money through digital currency is a relatively new method, and it makes handling cases more difficult.
"Since buying digital currency anonymously and then selling it is equivalent to setting up a physical barrier, there is no way to track the flow of funds or find the recipient through traditional means, and the tracking and retrieval of digital currency are also very complicated."
The person further said that obtaining evidence in this case was difficult, but that the police managed to solve it through multiple methods
Read more on cryptonews.com
