Money laundering through cryptocurrencies has become an increasingly hot topic in the financial world. The Tongliang Court in China has recently handed down sentences to 21 individuals, including key figures in a $300 million USDT money laundering case.
The primary defendants, Jiang Moumou and Zheng Moumou, recruited 19 additional members to carry out the money laundering scheme, each with their own distinct roles and responsibilities. Jiang Moumou was sentenced to six years and three months in prison and fined 500,000 RMB ($68,000), while Zheng Moumou was sentenced to six years in prison and also fined 500,000 RMB. The remaining 19 individuals received fixed-term imprisonment sentences ranging from one to two years and six months, as well as monetary fines.
The group was able to avoid detection by circumventing online trading platforms and executing transactions at prices that deviated from market rates. They then collected stablecoin USDT converted from the proceeds of various online crimes, including fraud and online gambling. The money was channeled through offline Bitpie collection wallets and then sold on virtual currency trading platforms.
To further legitimize their transactions, the group fabricated reasons such as withdrawing project funds and migrant workers’ wages. This enabled them to orchestrate cash withdrawals from bank counters across multiple provinces and cities, including Chongqing, Sichuan, and Shanghai. The amounts ranged from hundreds of thousands to several million yuan per withdrawal.
Once the cash was secured, it was shipped via plane to destinations in Fujian Province, namely Xiamen and Anxi, where it was delivered to designated recipients. The operation’s scope was revealed when it was discovered that the group had transferred over 2.25 billion yuan ($300 million) to overseas entities in this way, amassing profits of 22.62 million yuan in the process.