accomplice

The Wanfanglin District Prosecutor's Office in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China, recently announced the first-instance verdict in the case of Chen and Li, who were prosecuted for concealing and hiding criminal proceeds. The court accepted the sentencing recommendations from the prosecution, sentencing the two to two years and six months, and one year and six months of imprisonment, respectively, along with fines.In May of this year, Ms. Zhang met "Lin Hao" (who has not been apprehended) on a short video platform. He falsely claimed to have information on the stock price fluctuations of a well-known company and stated that she could profit by registering an account on the company's internal website to "buy long," but it required transactions in US dollars. She was instructed to exchange cash for US dollars with designated merchants and then transfer the dollars to his comrade's account, who would then transfer it to the company's account. On May 21, following "Lin Hao's" instructions, Ms. Zhang brought 1.47 million yuan in cash to a hotel in Wanfanglin District to prepare for the dollar exchange. Under the direction of their superior, Chen and Li went to connect with Ms. Zhang. Ms. Zhang forwarded the US dollar account provided by "Lin Hao" (which was actually a Tether account of the scammer) through Chen to their superior, who transferred a total of 202,328 Tether (approximately 1.47 million yuan) to that account in three installments. Chen and Li then handed over the 1.47 million yuan in cash received from Ms. Zhang to their superior. However, "Lin Hao" did not transfer the funds to the account Ms. Zhang had opened with the company as agreed, and upon realizing she had been scammed, Ms. Zhang reported it to the police.The prosecuting attorney reviewed the case files and consulted with investigators immediately, proposing a core investigative direction regarding the actions of suspects Chen and Li: to retrieve chat records to secure evidence that the two "knew the funds were abnormal"; to clarify the flow of funds, tracing the ultimate destination of the Tether through data from virtual currency trading platforms, confirming the objective fact that they assisted in transferring criminal proceeds. After investigation, the public security agency transferred the case to the Wanfanglin District Prosecutor's Office for review and prosecution on August 17. Upon review, the office found that both Chen and Li confessed to "knowing that the fund operations were too concealed and involved large cash transactions, which definitely had issues." The two received a benefit fee of 30,000 yuan afterward, which was sufficient to establish that they knew it was criminal proceeds; their actions in assisting the "cash → US dollars → Tether" cross-border conversion constituted the act of "concealing and hiding criminal proceeds."After the verdict, the office issued a risk warning letter to relevant units, outlining the typical characteristics of "investment scams + virtual currency money laundering," and collaborated with the anti-fraud center and other relevant units to carry out anti-fraud publicity activities. Sun Yinping, the chief prosecutor of the Wanfanglin District Prosecutor's Office, stated that in response to new types of telecom network fraud-related crimes, the office will continue to deepen the "investigation-prosecution collaboration + precise charges + social governance" mechanism, aiming to combat fraud crimes while severely punishing "accomplices," and fully protect the property safety of the public.

According to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that it has initiated a forfeiture process for over $15.1 million in USDT stolen by North Korean hackers and successfully secured guilty pleas from five individuals who assisted North Korean IT personnel in infiltrating U.S. companies.The DOJ pointed out that the seized cryptocurrency assets are linked to the North Korean military hacking group APT38, which attacked four overseas virtual currency platforms in 2023. The FBI seized the related funds in March 2025 and is currently seeking court approval to forfeit and return the assets to the victims.Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that four U.S. citizens and one Ukrainian national have pleaded guilty, admitting to providing stolen identity information to North Korean IT personnel and hosting company laptops on their behalf, allowing them to pose as working in the U.S. These actions helped North Korean IT personnel successfully infiltrate 136 U.S. companies, generating over $2.2 million in revenue for the North Korean government and resulting in the theft of identities of at least 18 U.S. citizens.

ChainCatcher news, according to cryptonews, South Korea has sentenced three accomplices related to V Global to three years in prison, with probation and five years of protective observation each, and imposed fines of 660 million won (approximately $474,000), 426 million won (approximately $306,000), and 259 million won (approximately $186,000) respectively. The court found that the three had attracted customers for the "disguised exchange" through multi-level marketing, helping to deceive about 50,000 investors, with an involved amount of approximately $1.4 billion.In the ruling, the judge stated that the three "caused astronomical losses by exploiting the crypto asset boom," but also considered that some victims had received rebates, leading to the probation decision. Previously, the CEO of V Global had been sentenced to 25 years in prison by the South Korean Supreme Court in 2023 as the principal offender, while several other executives received prison sentences ranging from 14 years to 4 years.

ChainCatcher news, the native stablecoin cryptocurrency exchange TrueX announced the completion of a $11 million Series A funding round, led by Accomplice and RRE Ventures, with participation from Reciprocal Ventures, Variant, and payment giant PayPal. The new funds are intended to support external custodians like Paxos Custody in asset protection. Currently, TrueX uses PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD as its preferred trading token, and Paxos provides third-party custody services for TrueX's users, with the service expected to be initially available to U.S. institutions and certain international institutions in some regions.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the DeFi protocol Neutrl announced the completion of a $5 million seed round financing, led by the digital asset private placement market STIX and venture capital firm Accomplice, with participation from numerous cryptocurrency angel investors including Amber Group, SCB Limited, Figment Capital, and Nascent, as well as Ethena founder Guy Young and derivatives trader Joshua Lim from Arbelos Markets (recently acquired by FalconX).According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Neutrl is a high-yield synthetic dollar protocol that utilizes over-the-counter arbitrage strategies to achieve scalable, market-neutral returns in the altcoin market.

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.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency rapper Heather Morgan (stage name Razzlekhan) released a new music video titled "Razzlekhan vs. The United States" before her impending imprisonment, in which she appears in a provocative manner, mocking capitalism and the American judicial system.Her husband Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein is an accomplice in the Bitfinex hacking case. Morgan stated that her music is created to inspire those who feel out of place.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, 24-year-old Catherine Colivas kidnapped a member of the Saudi royal family with the help of three accomplices and threatened to cut off his fingers to force him to pay $40,000 in Bitcoin. Despite the perpetrator's guilty plea, she was not imprisoned.Catherine Colivas faces a maximum sentence of 25 years at a hearing in Victoria, Australia. She pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, extortion, reckless injury, theft, and firearm offenses. However, she only received a community correction order—equivalent to community service in Australia.Colivas matched with the Saudi royal family member on a dating app and went out for drinks and dinner. Then, the royal family member escorted Colivas home. As the royal family member walked Colivas to the door, he was ambushed by three men, including Colivas's boyfriend.The victim was subsequently bound with cables, unable to leave, and was intimidated. As he was a cryptocurrency trader, the victim provided Bitcoin and had to call a friend to complete the $40,000 transfer. Afterwards, his keys were stolen, and the criminals also raided his home. Court documents show they stole clothing, a PlayStation 5, and several iPhones.The victim was later released and immediately went to the police to report the incident, and then spent the night in the hospital due to injuries to his head and wrist.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Heather Morgan (the rapper "Razzlekhan"), one of the suspects in the Bitfinex hacking case, to 18 months in prison during a hearing on November 18.In August 2023, Morgan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and fraud charges. She is the wife and accomplice of Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker who stole 120,000 bitcoins from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016 and laundered them.On November 14, Judge Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Lichtenstein to five years in prison, far below the 20 years allowed by sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors noted that the hacker provided "substantial assistance" in other investigations and that he had no prior criminal record.

ChainCatcher news, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Heather Morgan (the rapper "Razzlekhan"), one of the suspects in the Bitfinex hacking case, to 18 months in prison during a hearing on November 18.In August 2023, Morgan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and fraud; she is the wife and accomplice of Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker who stole 120,000 bitcoins from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016 and laundered them.On November 14, Judge Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Lichtenstein to five years in prison, far below the 20 years allowed by the sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors noted that the hacker provided "substantial assistance" in other investigations and that he had no prior criminal record.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, U.S. federal prosecutors plan to offer a plea deal to a man from Alabama who is accused of participating in the January hacking of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) X account, as well as posting a false social media message about the approval of the first Bitcoin spot ETF. The U.S. prosecutor told the judge at a hearing in Washington federal court on Friday, "We will propose a plea deal, but we do not know if he will accept it."It is reported that 25-year-old Eric Council Jr. pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and fraud using access devices at the hearing. Council's cooperation may help prosecutors track down his accomplices in this case. Allegedly, these accomplices used stolen personal information of an SEC employee to gain access to the agency's account.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, U.S. prosecutors are seeking an 18-month prison sentence for Heather Morgan (better known by her rapper name "Razzlekhan") for her involvement in laundering 120,000 bitcoins stolen from Bitfinex in a 2016 hack.It is reported that in August 2023, Morgan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

ChainCatcher news, OKX CEO Star retweeted @xiaomucrypto's tweet "the aevo project team has harvested" on X, stating: "What is the original intention of cryptocurrency exchanges to list tokens? Some token project teams, after being listed on exchanges, only do one thing: release, reduce holdings, and harvest users. Exchanges should not become accomplices of such project teams, and OKX has not done well in terms of listings. With no current regulations on listings and reductions, how can we protect this market? This is something worth reflecting on for the entire industry."

ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin reports, the main suspect Qian Zhimin in the UK’s 60,000 Bitcoin money laundering case and the Tianjin Lantian Ge Rui 43 billion yuan illegal fundraising case has recently been apprehended in the UK after being on the run for 7 years in China and 4 years in the UK. His assistant, Wen Jian, a co-conspirator in the UK money laundering case, has previously been arrested and is under trial, with a verdict expected to be announced on May 10 local time in London.