Taiwan’s Largest Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Case: 14 Individuals Indicted
The Taiwanese prosecution has charged 14 individuals in what is being referred to as the country’s largest cryptocurrency money laundering case, involving over 1,500 victims and more than $70 million in illicit funds. According to the indictment, the group is accused of fraud, money laundering, and organized crime, with the prosecution seeking the confiscation of $1.275 billion in New Taiwanese dollars ($39.8 million) allegedly obtained through fraudulent means.
The public prosecutor’s office in the Shilin district has also applied for the confiscation of 640,000 USDT (USDT), undisclosed Bitcoin (BTC) and Tron (TRX) holdings, $1.8 million in cash, and two luxury cars. Additionally, bank deposits totaling $3.13 million have been seized, with the remainder of the proceeds to be restored later. The group allegedly laundered $71.9 million collected from unsuspecting victims in cash before converting it into foreign currency and transferring it overseas to purchase USDT via the Taiwanese cryptocurrency exchange Bixiang Technology.
Together with the indictment, the public prosecutor released a money laundering diagram to illustrate the group’s activities.
Investigation and Charges
The authorities began investigating the case in April, when the 14 individuals were arrested, including ring leader Shi Qiren, who faces a potential 25-year prison sentence as the main suspect behind the fraud. Qiren, his wife, and a manager, Yang, allegedly operated 40 shops across Taiwan under the “Coinw” brand and “Cointhink Technology Co., Ltd.,” collecting millions in franchise fees before using a partner company to collect deposits from victims.
According to the prosecutors, the group deceived 1,539 people out of $71.9 million through franchise fees and cash-link machines, despite claiming to be an approved company by the Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan. The group also allegedly fell victim to a secondary fraud, with another individual, GU, paying $93,000 to a false promise to secure money laundering.
Recent Cryptocurrency-Related Crimes
The indictment comes days after a crypto influencer was sentenced to one year in prison for money laundering and wire fraud after cheating two large cloud computer providers in a large-scale cryptojacking operation. A month earlier, a Russian citizen allegedly laundered $530 million through US banks and crypto exchanges to facilitate payments for Russian clients who were subject to sanctioned banks.
For more information on this case and other cryptocurrency-related news, visit Cointelegraph.
