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The Shanghai procuratorate in China has cracked a cross-border virtual currency exchange case, with the amount involved exceeding 200 million yuan

According to the disclosure from the People's Procuratorate of Jing'an District, Shanghai, recently, the court prosecuted a certain Li for suspected illegal business operations in a criminal gang that used virtual currency for cross-border money laundering and illegal foreign exchange. On June 10, the case was heard in court and a verdict was announced on the spot, marking a conclusion to a series of illegal business operations spanning three years and involving over 200 million yuan. In July 2024, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange discovered abnormal clues regarding Company Z using virtual currency to transfer assets for domestic clients during routine monitoring, and subsequently referred the case to the public security authorities for handling.Investigations revealed that Company Z was registered overseas in 2019, promoting itself under the guise of a "private bank" and developing a virtual banking app to create a facade of legitimacy, but it had not obtained the necessary foreign exchange business operation license in China and was essentially engaged in illegal foreign exchange activities. The gang targeted high-net-worth individuals with funding needs for overseas property purchases, immigration, and studying abroad, using intermediaries to attract clients, with customer managers, traders, and customer service personnel facilitating the currency exchange process. Clients purchased virtual currency from virtual currency exchangers with renminbi and transferred it to Company Z's overseas virtual wallet, after which the gang exchanged the virtual currency for foreign currency abroad and transferred it to the clients' designated overseas accounts. There was no actual cross-border flow of funds; instead, settlements were made through domestic and foreign capital pools, with Company Z charging a 3% currency exchange service fee and paying intermediaries a 0.5% commission.A total of nine individuals have been brought to justice in this case, while one main suspect is still under investigation. After review, the relevant personnel collectively violated national laws by illegally buying and selling foreign exchange, disrupting financial order, and the circumstances were serious or particularly serious, warranting criminal liability for illegal business operations. The court sentenced five individuals, including Gao and Li, to prison terms ranging from six years to two years and six months, and imposed fines ranging from 1.5 million yuan to 300,000 yuan; for Chen, Huang, and four others, due to lighter criminal circumstances, relatively smaller amounts involved, and voluntary confession, the procuratorial authority made a decision of relative non-prosecution according to the law.

The U.S. Treasury Department has launched a financial crackdown on Iran's digital asset infrastructure, freezing nearly $500 million in cryptocurrency assets

The U.S. government, through the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has initiated a multi-agency coordinated financial action aimed at systematically targeting Iran's domestic digital asset infrastructure, with the goal of dismantling Tehran's parallel shadow banking system. According to officially disclosed information, this operation has successfully identified and incapacitated a large interconnected digital wallet network directly controlled by the Iranian regime, and has immediately frozen nearly $500 million in sovereign-related crypto assets.The U.S. intends to disrupt Iran's ability to bypass long-standing Western trade embargoes by blocking these alternative capital channels, cutting off its resources to regional proxy networks, and systematically weakening the regime's ability to transfer or repatriate wealth outside the oversight of traditional global clearing institutions. The focus of this enforcement action is to systematically identify state-sponsored large cryptocurrency trading portals, which have quietly evolved into core nodes for evading sanctions.Federal intelligence reports indicate that these regional platforms have processed billions of dollars in high-frequency digital asset transactions, heavily relying on mainstream stablecoins and high-throughput alternative blockchain networks to obscure their illegal settlement flows. Under the newly implemented executive directive, the Treasury is actively blacklisting specific crypto addresses, tracking mining pool variables, and imposing sanctions on foreign technology providers that facilitate these state-supported networks.Additionally, the U.S. is leveraging its dominant position in international banking to compel foreign financial intermediaries to fully comply with its aggressive crypto asset control protocols. The Treasury has issued stern warnings to international technology centers that any platform providing clearing services or liquidity assistance to designated Iranian digital entities will face immediate risks of exclusion from the U.S. financial system.This comprehensive containment model shifts regulatory responsibility to global exchanges, forcing them to deploy advanced real-time blockchain analysis tools to programmatically identify and block any inbound transactions originating from Iranian internet protocol or historical wallet clusters. By installing these stringent crypto safeguards at the level of global gateways, the U.S. government is transforming permissionless distributed ledgers into highly controlled economic zones, ensuring that alternative payment infrastructures cannot be used to undermine broader Western geopolitical security objectives in the next decade.

Hong Kong and 9 other regions have cracked down on cross-border fraud and money laundering, arresting over 3,000 people, with some of the illicit funds converted into stablecoins

According to a news release from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong police announced that they have joined law enforcement agencies from 9 countries and regions, including Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, to combat cross-border fraud and money laundering activities. This operation took place from March 10 to May 7, resulting in the arrest of 3,018 individuals, involving over 138,000 fraud cases, with total losses of approximately $752 million (about HKD 5.89 billion).During the operation, law enforcement agencies froze a total of 101,989 bank accounts and successfully intercepted approximately $161 million (about HKD 1.26 billion) in fraudulent funds. Among them, the Hong Kong police arrested 870 individuals and intercepted approximately HKD 539 million in funds. The largest case involved a Singapore company that was defrauded of $36 million (about HKD 280 million), with the related funds subsequently flowing into multiple bank accounts in Hong Kong and other regions. About half of this amount was converted into stablecoins and dispersed into different virtual asset wallets, with the police successfully freezing $20 million of these funds after tracking.Investigations show that money laundering through virtual asset platforms is on the rise, and various regions need to continue enhancing their capabilities to respond to crimes involving virtual assets through intelligence sharing and collaborative mechanisms.

Ningbo Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau has cracked a series of smuggling cases involving virtual currency mining machines, seizing over 400 "mining machines."

According to Zhejiang Daily, recently, the Ningbo Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau successfully dismantled multiple criminal gangs smuggling virtual currency "mining machines" through in-depth operations and meticulous investigations, effectively cutting off an illegal industrial chain.Previously, during a routine inspection of a batch of imported express shipments declared as "industrial blockers," Ningbo Customs discovered that the actual goods did not match the declaration and were, in fact, virtual currency "mining machines." Customs officers quickly transferred this lead to the anti-smuggling department. After receiving the report, the Ningbo Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau immediately assembled a task force by drawing on elite personnel, and through data analysis and clue investigation, gradually clarified the organizational structure and operational model of the criminal network. When the timing was right, they decisively struck, simultaneously conducting net-seizing operations in Dongguan, Shenzhen, and other locations, successfully dismantling multiple smuggling gangs of mining machines.Upon investigation, it was confirmed that this series of cases seized over 400 illegal entry mining machines of brands such as Ant L9 and Ice River KS3. The investigation revealed that the smuggling gang led by Liao, in order to make illegal profits, procured "mining machines" from overseas suppliers, disassembled the whole machines, and misreported the product names to smuggle them into the country through international express channels from ports in Ningbo, Guangzhou, and other places. After the goods entered the country, the gang reassembled them, either selling them directly domestically or transporting them to hidden "mining sites" in Xinjiang, Hunan, and other places to engage in illegal virtual currency "mining" activities. At the same time, they utilized virtual currencies like USDT for cross-border payment settlements to evade financial supervision.

The United States sanctions Cambodian senator, the crackdown on cryptocurrency fraud continues to escalate

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Cambodian Senator Kok An, accusing him of controlling "fraud parks" across the country, defrauding American victims through cryptocurrency investment scams.According to a statement released by OFAC on Thursday, in addition to Kok An, 28 other individuals and entities have been added to the sanctions list, all believed to be connected to his fraud network. This network is accused of luring victims into sending cryptocurrency assets under the guise of "high return investments." This action follows a raid by Cambodian police on two scam centers in the border city of Poipet. Previously, Kok An had been accused of operating scam bases in the area. OFAC stated that scammers typically gain victims' trust by establishing "friendships" or "romantic relationships," then guide them to participate in so-called cryptocurrency investment platforms, thereby defrauding them of funds, with the total amount involved reaching millions of dollars.It is noteworthy that some individuals involved in the scam activities are themselves victims of human trafficking, forced to engage in illegal activities under threats of violence. OFAC pointed out that these scam centers are often located in casinos or repurposed office parks, used not only for money laundering but also as bases for defrauding American citizens and committing human rights violations. Additionally, regulators have simultaneously shut down over 500 fraudulent website domains used for cryptocurrency investment scams, indicating that the U.S. crackdown on related criminal activities is intensifying.
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