Taiwan charges 14 in $100M crypto laundering case involving fake exchange, 1,500 victims, and growing demand for stricter regulations.
Taiwanese authorities have charged 14 people in the country’s biggest crypto laundering case. The scheme involved over 1,500 victims and more than $70 million in illegal funds. Prosecutors allege that the group defrauded people by using a bogus virtual currency exchange. This case is outrageous in Taiwan, and it has shown the horrors of unregulated crypto platforms.
Crypto Laundering Operation Busted in Taiwan
The case involved the investigation of Bixiang Technology, which was a company claiming to be the largest virtual currency exchange in Taiwan. Shi Qiren and his group have cooperated with the overseas exchange CoinW. They established more than 40 pseudo-franchise stores in Taiwan. These shops took cash from the hands of victims in exchange for machines and turned them into cryptocurrency such as USDT. In more than one year, the group laundered 75 million dollars, which damaged 1,539 individuals. Police stormed the operation in April and arrested 14 suspects, including Shi Qiren. They confiscated 640,000 USDT tokens, Bitcoin, TRX, 640,000 USDT tokens, and two luxury vehicles along with bank accounts and deposits worth 60.49 million dollars.
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Chief Prosecutor Luo Weiyuan headed the prosecution. He discovered that Shi Qiren in cooperation with his wife, Ms. Lin, and business director Yang collaborated. They also lied that their operation was sanctioned by the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission. This falsehood drew a lot of investors. However, the organization was not registered under anti-money laundering compliance. They instead took advantage of the franchise stores to collect franchise fees and defraud victims. The group laundered money to foreign countries, making it hard to trace their ill-gotten gains.
Additionally, the prosecutors found out about another crime in the case. A man called Gu deceived the group of Shi Qiren by saying that he could assist them in passing anti-money laundering checks. He cheated them out of fees to the tune of 3 million dollars. This exhibits how even criminals can be victims of such schemes.
Luxury Cars and Crypto Seized in Taiwan’s Largest Fraud Case
The 14 suspects were charged with fraud, crypto laundering and the running of a criminal organization by the Shilin District Prosecutor’s Office. Shi Qiren is subjected to the toughest punishment. According to prosecutors, he did not show any remorse and did a great deal of harm. They want to see him serve a 25-year prison term. The other suspects are equally facing serious charges, among them being Yang and shareholder Wang. Fraud was another case that was put on Gu.
Besides, the prosecutors are seeking to seize 1.275 billion dollars of illegal profits. These are the forfeited bank deposits, luxury cars, cryptocurrencies, and seized cash. The overall amount is over $100 million. Governments will keep on tracing the rest of the money.
This case has created panic in Taiwan. It is the danger of unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges. Japan and South Korea are other nations that have also noted the same crypto scams. These countries are now stiffening laws to safeguard investors. In Taiwan, the government can seek to impose tighter crypto regulations. At least, in the current state of affairs, prosecutors are willing to send a loud message: crypto crime will not go unpunished. This case has been transferred to the Shilin District Court, where it will be tried. With this mega-fraud that has hit Taiwan, awaiting justice are the victims and the people who are seeking justice.
