China arrests 63 gang members for laundering $1.7 billion with crypto

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Chinese authorities have arrested a gang of 63 people for laundering 12 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) using crypto.

According to local media, the Horqin branch of the public security bureau in Tongliao city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, revealed that it had successfully eliminated the money laundering gang.

The gang was investigated for 3 months

Horqin branch police first became interested in the gang after the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Public Security Department warned of abnormal capital flow for Shi Mouyuan’s construction bank card .

Further investigations showed that the gang had spread to several provinces and cities. Some members of the gang have even been arrested in distant Thailand.

It took the 230-police task force three months to travel through 17 provinces, cities and autonomous regions before they were able to arrest the 63 suspects, including leaders Zhang and Ji.

Authorities also disclosed that the gang has been operating since May 2021 and has generated illicit funds through fraud, pyramid schemes, gambling and other illicit activities. The gang then used crypto assets to launder their illicit wealth.

China previously arrested 93 suspects

This is not the first time that Chinese authorities have caught criminal gangs laundering funds with cryptocurrencies. A few months ago, the Hengyang County Public Security Bureau arrested a gang that had laundered 40 million yuan using crypto.

The gang, active since 2018, has been involved in more than 300 wire fraud cases with victims, including county public security bureau director Liu Xialong. There were 93 suspects arrested in the case.

This shows the prevalence of crypto-related crimes in the country and explains the government’s anti-crypto stance. But even a government crackdown has not been able to eliminate cryptocurrency use or Bitcoin mining in the country.

The use of cryptography for criminal activities has dropped

Meanwhile, the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for criminal activity has plummeted this year, according to data from Chainalysis. Illegal activity involving cryptocurrencies fell 15% in July 2022, and overall scam revenue fell 65%.

Source: ChainalysisDisclaimer

BeInCrypto has reached out to a company or individual involved in the story for an official statement on recent developments, but has yet to receive a response.

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