Chinese police have reportedly broken up a money-laundering group that used cryptocurrency.
The police arrested 63 people involved in the group that laundered 12 billion yuan (about $1.7 billion) since May 2021 using crypto, CoinDesk reported Monday (Dec. 12).
The group laundered money for both domestic and foreign criminals that got the funds from illegal pyramid schemes, fraud and gambling, according to the report.
It converted the funds into cryptocurrency and recruited people from around the world to help launder the funds, the report said.
This report comes about three months after authorities in the Chinese Hunan province arrested 93 people over money laundering using cryptocurrencies.
There were 93 people arrested for reportedly laundering up to RMB 40 billion (about $5.6 billion), and they had been laundering funds gained from fraud and gambling across the country, CoinDesk reported Sept. 26.
China has made an effort to crack down on crypto being used for crimes as well as just the general use of the digital assets. The country has passed a ban on crypto trading, mining and using the assets for payments.
As PYMNTS reported Feb. 25, crypto’s use as a tool for money laundering has been under attack in major economies around the world, with prosecutors and politicians stepping up the use of criminal charges to fight the flow of dirty money through blockchains — as well as any unregulated and unidentified use of cryptocurrencies.
In the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced Nov. 30 that 21 people have been charged with using cryptocurrency to launder money stolen through fraud schemes.
The individuals were involved with transnational money laundering networks that helped foreign criminal gangs move fraud proceeds stolen from U.S. victims, the office said.
“Today’s announcement sends a clear message that money laundering networks that service fraud schemes targeting American victims, especially the elderly, will not be tolerated, and those operating such networks will be held accountable,” U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston said at the time.
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