- Chinese authorities have apprehended a gang who stole t $1.7 billion using crypto.
- It took 230 police officers three months to arrest the gang after scouring 17 provinces.
- Previously, China police arrested 93 suspects connected to a $5.5 billion fraud.
According to a Chinese report, the Public Security Bureau of Tongliao City has successfully apprehended a money laundering gang responsible for siphoning over 12 billion Yuan, equivalent to $1.7 billion, using crypto.
The clampdown is the culmination of a risk alert from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s Public Security in July 2022 about suspicious transactions on a construction bank’s card. The report noted that Shi Mouyuan experienced an irregular monthly transaction volume of more than $1.5 million, suspected of money laundering.
Before they could detain the 63 suspects, including the leaders, Zhang and Ji, the task force comprising 230 police officers spent three months scouring 17 provinces, cities, and autonomous areas.
Authorities further revealed that the group has been active since May 2021, amassing illicit wealth through fraud, pyramid scams, gambling, and other illegal pursuits and using crypto to mask their exploits. Notably, the police recovered over $18 million from the suspects.
In September, the Hengyang County Public Security Bureau announced the successful crackdown on a monumental electronic money laundering case. The crime involved 40 billion yuan, equivalent to over $5.5 billion, laundered by 94 suspects via cryptocurrency.
At the time of the publication, the prosecutor noted that the group head, Hong Moumou, alongside 93 other criminal suspects, were in police custody awaiting trial.
Additionally, the police destroyed over ten running money laundering dens, seized over 100 mobile phones and computers, and retrieved cash of 300 million yuan and 7.8 million yuan worth of economic assets.
Over the years, the Chinese government opposed crypto, given the rise of internet fraud. Even after crypto prohibition in China, several state-owned companies still operated Bitcoin mining rigs.
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