A 'U merchant' in Gansu, China was sentenced for aiding criminal activities related to the black and gray market USDT and had their illegal gains confiscated!
According to the official account of the Intermediate People's Court of Jinchang City, recently, the Yongchang Court in Gansu, China, ruled in two cases involving fraud, sentencing ten defendants to prison terms ranging from ten months to one year for aiding information network criminal activities, and actually confiscating over 1.19 million yuan in illegal gains.
It is reported that since 2022, Shen has been illegally profiting by raising funds to purchase computers, IoT cards, and other equipment, recruiting Li, Chen, and four others to join, and additionally recruiting more than ten people to successively rent houses in Hefei, Anhui, to establish a USDT (Tether) trading studio, and forming illegal over-the-counter trading groups through the Telegram software, profiting by buying low and selling high.
During this period, the five took risks repeatedly, knowing that the U coins they received were sourced from online gambling, fraud, and other black and gray industries, yet still helped fraudsters with high exchange rates to conduct payment settlements between Tether and RMB. At the same time, Shen also contacted downstream currency merchants such as Li to settle payments through methods specified by upstream criminals, including transfers via Alipay, WeChat, and cash deposits.
By the time of the incident, the defendants had collectively profited over 880,000 yuan, among which more than 5.9 million yuan involved over ten victims from Meng in Yongchang County who were defrauded while participating in virtual currency investments and online order brushing, with the funds transferred to accounts related to the Tether transactions used by Shen and others.
The court held that in this case, Shen and others used virtual currency trading activities to assist telecom network fraudsters in transferring funds, which has gone beyond mere virtual currency operations. Such activities should be included as a key link in the comprehensive crackdown on telecom network fraud and illegal criminal activities, and those involved in the crimes should be punished.
