Chinese authorities size $1.7bn in stolen crypto

More than 60 criminals were arrested for operating illegal instant messaging chat groups recruiting members to steal funds.

Chinese police operating out of the Mongolian city of Tongolio have arrested 63 criminals involved in a mammoth money laundering scheme.

The overall sleuth is said to have comprised $1.7bn in cryptocurrency using the Tether stablecoin.

The investigation began after a spike in deposits accounting for more than 10 million yuan ($1.44m) triggered a local bank’s anti-money laundering protocol.

After, in a series of raids, a total of 130 million Chinese yuan was confiscated by the Chinese authorities, according to a statement from law enforcement.

The criminals are said to have orchestrated a group on the instant messaging encrypted service Telegram, asking to recruit members to open crypto exchange accounts.

As a result of the crackdown on cryptocurrencies in China, most of the aforementioned exchanges are said to likely have been overseas.

The fraudulent group rewarded its members with a commission based on the amount they successfully manage to launder alongside converting the USDT back into Chinese yuan.

The corrupt group of fraudsters have been operating for some time, since May 2021, around the same time the Chinese government imposed a sweeping ban on cryptocurrencies.

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Written by Isabella Aslam

Reporter

Isabella is an experienced writer in B2B and B2C journalism. Alongside crypto, Isabella writes and discusses the topics of relationships and psychology. Isabella holds a first-class degree in music journalism and often interviews electronic artists and DJs.

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