ChainCatcher news, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has issued a warning to cryptocurrency ATM operators, indicating that some machines may be used for money laundering or fraud. The statement shows that there are signs of suspicious activities related to scams and fraud involving cryptocurrency ATMs.AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that it will ensure operators take measures to reduce the risks of money laundering and fraud.Currently, Australia has 1,648 cryptocurrency ATMs, the most in the Asia-Pacific region, with 348 located in Sydney. Recently, the United States has also strengthened regulations on cryptocurrency ATMs, with an Illinois senator proposing a bill to limit daily transaction amounts and require refund protections.

ChainCatcher news, according to the United Daily News, a father-son duo with the surname Zhou from Taichung, Taiwan, collaborated with an overseas fraud group to establish ten virtual currency chain stores in the country, using legal currency stores as a cover to secretly engage in illegal money laundering activities, with the amount involved reaching up to 3.1 billion New Taiwan Dollars. On March 21, the Yunlin District Prosecutor's Office prosecuted 17 individuals for aggravated fraud and money laundering, seeking a 20-year heavy sentence for the masterminds Zhou Hongwei, Liu Jinggu, and You Junfu.The prosecutors pointed out that the fraud gang attracted victims who lacked knowledge of virtual currency to invest by disguising the appearance of legitimate currency stores. Victims exchanged cash for Tether (USDT) in the stores, and were then guided to transfer funds to overseas fraud operations. The entire process was meticulously designed, including the "fake currency store, real water room" and "fake logistics, real drivers" model, comparable to a crime movie plot.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, the Hong Kong police launched an operation codenamed "Shijue" in the Yau Tsim District from March 10 to 19, successfully cracking down on a series of fraud and money laundering activities. This operation solved 45 cases and arrested 54 suspects, with a total amount involved reaching HKD 194 million.The case with the highest amount involved is a virtual currency investment fraud targeting foreign nationals, with an amount as high as HKD 72 million. Victims were deceived into investing in virtual currency and transferring funds to designated bank accounts. The police have arrested two women from the mainland (aged 30 and 34), who claimed to be a housewife and a businesswoman, and they were charged with money laundering on March 11 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Court.

ChainCatcher news reports that on-chain detective ZachXBT revealed that during his assistance in freezing Bybit hacker funds, he became acutely aware of the serious issues regarding security vulnerabilities and hacker attacks in the crypto industry. He stated that multiple "decentralized" protocols have recently derived almost 100% of their monthly trading volume and fees from the North Korean hacker group DPRK, yet these projects refuse to take any responsibility.Moreover, centralized exchanges (CEX) are slow to respond, allowing hackers to launder money in just a few minutes, while some CEXs take hours to take action. ZachXBT also criticized the KYT (Know Your Transaction) system for its serious flaws, which are easy to circumvent, and noted that the KYC (Know Your Customer) mechanism poses more of a data leak risk for ordinary users due to account leaks and insider issues, while being nearly ineffective in preventing the flow of illegal funds.He pointed out that North Korean hackers DPRK recently successfully laundered $1.4 billion, fully exposing the compliance and security system vulnerabilities within the industry, and expressed concern that only government-mandated regulations could lead to improvements in the industry.

ChainCatcher news, according to News.bitcoin, a San Francisco federal jury found AML Bitcoin founder and CEO Rowland Marcus Andrade guilty of wire fraud and money laundering. Andrade is scheduled to be sentenced on July 22, 2025. He faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and up to 10 years for money laundering, along with the forfeiture of assets related to his crimes.According to evidence presented at trial, 47-year-old Andrade from Texas misappropriated over $2 million from AML Bitcoin sales for personal expenses, including the purchase of two properties in Texas and two luxury cars. He laundered investors' funds through various bank accounts and then used that money to finance his purchases. The jury found that Andrade falsely claimed that AML Bitcoin was about to receive approval from the Panama Canal Authority, but no such agreement existed. Through these false statements, he raised millions of dollars from investors.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Argentine National Securities Commission (CNV) has finalized regulatory rules for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP).The new regulations cover registration obligations, cybersecurity, asset custody, anti-money laundering, and risk disclosure, requiring mandatory separation of company and client funds, annual audits, and monthly reports to the CNV. Starting in 2024, VASPs operating in Argentina must register with the Virtual Asset Service Provider Registry (PSAV), and violators may have their registration revoked.CNV Chairman Roberto E. Silva stated that institutions failing to comply with the regulations will not be able to operate in Argentina.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, a man in California has been sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for using Bitcoin to launder proceeds from the sale of MDMA on the dark web.29-year-old San Francisco resident John Khuu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and operating an illegal money transmission business. According to Texas law enforcement, Khuu imported MDMA from Germany and sold it on various dark web markets, accepting Bitcoin payments. He then converted the Bitcoin stored in seller accounts into dollars and laundered the money through "hundreds of transactions and dozens of financial accounts."This arrest is part of "Operation Crypto Runner," a joint multi-year investigation announced by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Postal Inspection Service in November 2022. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis believes that 2024 could be the largest year for money laundering through cryptocurrency, exceeding $40 billion, setting a new record. The U.S. Treasury's 2024 risk assessment found that while traditional money laundering methods still dominate, the use of cryptocurrency for laundering drug transactions is increasingly rising, with methods becoming more complex.

ChainCatcher news, according to TechCrunch, Aleksej Besciokov, co-founder of the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, was arrested by local police in Varkala, Kerala, India on March 12. The exchange had previously been sanctioned by the EU and the US government.Indian police confirmed that the arrest was based on a warrant issued by the Patiala House Court in New Delhi, executed at the request of the US government. A spokesperson for the US Department of Justice, Nicole Oxman, confirmed this news to TechCrunch but declined to comment further.Last week, the US Department of Justice charged Besciokov with personally approving transactions on Garantex related to North Korean government hackers and other cybercriminals, and filed criminal charges against him for assisting in money laundering through the cryptocurrency exchange. US authorities have frozen over $26 million in cryptocurrency assets and seized Garantex's website.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Singapore Business Times, a 20-year-old Singaporean, Malone Lam, has been arrested for allegedly participating in one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history. He reportedly spent up to $500,000 (approximately 665,000 SGD) in a nightclub in one night and was seen gifting Hermes Birkin bags to models and influencers at a lavish party. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Lam was arrested in September 2024 along with his 21-year-old American accomplice, Jeandiel Serrano, and they are charged with "conspiring to steal and launder over $230 million (approximately 306 million SGD) in cryptocurrency." At current prices, the stolen 4,100 bitcoins are worth over $450 million.As of October last year, approximately $70 million has been recovered or frozen at various exchanges. Court documents reveal that "even considering the millions spent by Serrano and accomplices on cars and jewelry, over $100 million remains unaccounted for." If convicted of stealing over 4,100 bitcoins, Lam faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount he profited from the fraud. Lam's trial date is set for October 6.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Paper, the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ying Yong, delivered the work report of the Supreme Procuratorate at the third session of the 14th National People's Congress. In 2024, the procuratorial organs prosecuted 825 individuals for securities-related crimes such as financial fraud and insider trading, and 3,032 individuals for money laundering crimes involving the use of "virtual currency" to transfer criminal proceeds.

ChainCatcher news reports that according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, the United States, along with Germany and Finland, has successfully dismantled and seized the online infrastructure of the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. Since April 2019, the exchange has processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and has been accused of providing money laundering services to transnational criminal organizations, including terrorist groups, and violating sanctions.At the same time, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has filed a lawsuit against two administrators of Garantex: 46-year-old Lithuanian national Aleksej Besciokov and 40-year-old Russian national residing in the UAE, Aleksandr Mira Serda. Both are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, and Besciokov is additionally charged with conspiracy to violate sanctions and operating an unlicensed money transmission business.Court documents show that from 2019 to 2025, the two defendants controlled and operated Garantex, knowingly allowing the platform to be used for money laundering while taking steps to conceal the illegal activities. Despite the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioning Garantex on April 5, 2022, the defendants continued to transact with U.S. entities and redesigned their operations to evade sanctions, including changing cryptocurrency wallet addresses daily to avoid detection and blocking by U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges.U.S. law enforcement has seized three domain names: Garantex.org, Garantex.io, and Garantex.academy, frozen over $26 million in funds used for money laundering, and obtained server copies that include customer and accounting databases. If convicted, the two defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

According to ChainCatcher news, reported by Decrypt, U.S. authorities have offered a reward of $10 million for the capture of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. Wedding is accused of being heavily involved in operating a multinational cocaine empire. The FBI announced on Thursday that it has placed this Canadian on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in order to apprehend him as soon as possible.In October 2024, the Department of Justice filed criminal charges against Wedding and 15 other defendants, accusing them of leading the group and committing multiple atrocities during drug trafficking. U.S. authorities claim that Wedding is suspected of using his criminal organization to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl into North America and orchestrating multiple murders to protect his business. It is alleged that Wedding used USDT for money laundering and to circumvent traditional banking systems.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Korea Economic TV, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission of Korea held a "Anti-Money Laundering Trustee Meeting" to discuss regulatory plans against new types of money laundering methods such as virtual asset trading.The FIU will focus on cracking down on money laundering activities using virtual accounts and simple remittances, conducting special operations once a month to analyze suspicious transactions related to crimes such as voice phishing, pyramid schemes, and gambling targeting vulnerable groups. The Financial Supervisory Service stated that it will strengthen inspections of companies with insufficient implementation of anti-money laundering systems and promote cooperation between consumer protection departments and anti-money laundering departments.

ChainCatcher news, according to NetEase Qingliu Studio, Wang Shuiming, a native of Anxi, Fujian, who was arrested in connection with Singapore's largest money laundering case, has been captured in Montenegro and will be extradited back to China. Wang Shuiming's partner, Su Weiyi, has been confirmed as the mastermind behind the Hong Kong cryptocurrency platform scam AAX, and was arrested by Hong Kong police in July 2024.In November 2022, Atom Asset Exchange suddenly became unable to process withdrawals and subsequently collapsed, with Su Weiyi absconding with 16.74 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 15.675 million RMB). In July 2024, Su Weiyi was arrested by Hong Kong police. It is worth mentioning that Su Weiyi co-owns other companies with other partners, who are linked to the convicted former Filipino mayor Alice Guo (Guo Huaping).On August 15, 2023, over 400 Singaporean police launched a raid, successfully cracking down on the largest money laundering case in Singapore's history, involving an amount of 3 billion Singapore dollars (approximately 16 billion RMB). The Singapore police arrested 10 suspects on the spot. These suspects, aged between 31 and 44, are all originally from Fujian and are referred to by outsiders as the "Fujian Gang." They held passports from multiple countries and used forged documents, shell companies, and cryptocurrencies to "clean" the proceeds from illegal gambling and fraud in Southeast Asia, investing in high-end assets in Singapore and overseas.According to the investigation results of the Singapore police, Wang Shuiming also possesses substantial assets outside of Singapore. Domestically, Wang Shuiming's company has an investment amount of up to 32 million RMB; he owns a factory worth several million RMB; he has two apartments in Xiamen worth a total of 20 million RMB; and there is a bank account in Hong Kong under Wang Shuiming with a deposit of 2 million Hong Kong dollars and cryptocurrencies valued at 110,000 USD.

According to ChainCatcher's message, on-chain analyst Yu Jin has monitored that since 3 PM yesterday, the Bybit hacker has resumed money laundering activities, having laundered 62,200 ETH (approximately 138 million USD).Currently, of the 499,000 ETH stolen from Bybit, only 156,000 ETH (approximately 346 million USD) remains unprocessed.At the current rate of money laundering, it is expected that the remaining stolen funds will be completely cleared within three days.

ChainCatcher news, according to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, the Bybit hacker has suspended the transfer and laundering of ETH since 3 PM yesterday, so only 14,300 ETH (worth about 32.2 million USD) has been laundered in the past 24 hours. Now there are still 218,000 ETH (worth about 486.6 million USD) in the hacker's address.

ChainCatcher news, according to monitoring by Spot on Chain, the Bybit hacker has successfully laundered 50% of the stolen ETH.In the past 5 and a half days, the Bybit hacker has laundered a total of 266,309 ETH (approximately $614 million), accounting for 53.3% of the 499,000 ETH stolen, averaging 48,420 ETH laundered per day, mostly converted to BTC through THORChain. At the current rate, the remaining 233,086 ETH could be fully laundered in just 5 days.

ChainCatcher news, according to Arkham data, as of now, wallets marked as Lazarus Group have transferred over $240 million in ETH through THORChain. These funds have mainly been exchanged for native BTC.In addition, THORChain's chief developer @Pluto9r announced his departure (after 4 years in office). THORChain network core validator TCB (@1984_is_today) revealed that most of THORChain's activities stem from the largest financial heist in human history, involving money laundering activities by North Korean hackers, which will become a national security issue.Previously reported, THORChain is currently facing insolvency, with savings and loan functions suspended, and plans to address a $200 million debt crisis by issuing equity tokens.