Chinese Law Enforcement Cracks Crypto Fraud Worth Over $5 Billion

• Chinese police officers have cracked a $5.5 billion money laundering case.
• The police arrested 93 suspects connected to the case.
• Cases involving electronic fraud have exceeded 300 in past few weeks.

Chinese police officers have successfully cracked down on an electronic money laundering case of $5.5 billion by a notorious criminal group.

The Hengyang County Public Security Bureau revealed this development in a press conference titled “Hundred Days Action” on public security crackdown and rectification last Friday.

At the meeting, the law enforcement agency announced nine typical cases, including the “9.15” (September 15, 2021) extraordinarily large money laundering criminal group.

The group headed by Hong Moumou, alongside 93 other criminal suspects, are in police custody awaiting trial. Additionally, the police destroyed over ten money laundering and running dens and seized over 100 mobile phones and computers. They also retrieved 300 million yuan of funds and  7.8 million yuan worth of economic assets for the victims.

The criminal gang allegedly laundered as much as 40 billion yuan, equivalent to over $5.5 billion, via cryptocurrency. A local media noted that cases involving electronic fraud had exceeded 300 in recent times.

Over the years, the Chinese government has been opposed to crypto transactions, given the rise of internet fraud. Even after crypto prohibition in China, several state-owned companies still operated Bitcoin mining rigs. In May 2022, China re-emerged as the second-largest source of Bitcoin mining. Coin Edition reported last week that a Chinese province issued a statement prohibiting crypto mining in the server rooms for China’s mega digital infrastructure project.

On the other hand, the Beijing Number One Intermediate People’s Court recently ruled that interested investors may only trade cryptocurrencies as virtual assets rather than as legal currency.