ChainCatcher news, recently the Tianjin police disclosed a new type of scam involving "virtual currency investment and offline trading." The police found that the so-called "U coin" investment was just a facade, while the so-called "U merchants" were groups that helped the scammers transfer funds.Investigations revealed that since July this year, the criminal gang, under the guise of "U merchants," has committed more than 10 cases in Tianjin and surrounding provinces and cities, involving an amount of over 500,000 yuan. Currently, 4 members of the gang have been legally approved for arrest by the People's Procuratorate of Wuqing District, Tianjin.

ChainCatcher news, according to reports from the Shaanxi police, the Public Security Bureau of Jingbian County, Yulin, Shaanxi Province, successfully cracked a virtual currency investment fraud case, arresting 4 criminal suspects with a case value of 410,000 yuan.On July 16, 2024, the victim, Wang, reported to the police that he had been defrauded of 410,000 yuan in cash online under the guise of investing in virtual currency. After receiving the report, the criminal investigation team immediately launched an investigation into the case. Through analysis, assessment, and field investigations, they ultimately identified the identities and locations of the 4 criminal suspects. On July 23, the investigating officers successfully arrested suspects Zhai and Li in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. On July 25, suspects Wang and Li were arrested in Kaifeng, Henan Province.Upon investigation, in July 2024, the victim Wang was chatting online with others when he was recommended to invest in virtual currency on a certain app, with the other party claiming to know a system loophole in the app that guaranteed profits. Tempted by the high returns, Wang invested a total of 410,000 yuan in the app.On July 4, suspect Zhai, seeking to profit from cashing out virtual currency, teamed up with Wang, Li, and another Li to drive to Jingbian County, where they conducted a transaction with Wang to sell virtual currency, taking away his 410,000 yuan in cash and making a profit of over 50,000 yuan.Currently, the 4 suspects Zhai, Wang, Li, and Li are criminally detained for fraud, and the case is under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, the Supreme People's Court and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly released 5 typical cases of punishing online pyramid scheme crimes according to the law, including cases of falsely promising high returns through investment in "virtual currency." The basic facts of the case are as follows:In early 2018, the defendant Chen and others used blockchain as a gimmick to plan and establish the "Certain Token" online platform to carry out pyramid scheme activities. They required participants to obtain membership accounts on the platform through referrals from their uplines and pay a threshold fee of over 500 US dollars in virtual currency to receive value-added services. Participants could use the platform's "smart dog brick-moving" technology to conduct arbitrage trading in different trading venues and earn platform profits.To evade crackdown, Chen and others moved the platform's customer service and currency distribution groups abroad in January 2019 and continued to carry out pyramid scheme activities using the "Certain Token" online platform. Statistics show that the "Certain Token" online platform registered over 2.6 million member accounts, with levels reaching 3,293 layers, and collected over 9 million pieces of various virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Tether, and Grapefruit Coin from members.The People's Court of Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone in Jiangsu Province sentenced Chen to eleven years in prison for organizing and leading pyramid scheme activities, and imposed a fine of 6 million yuan; the other defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight years and eight months to two years, and fines were also imposed. The illegal gains were confiscated and turned over to the national treasury. After the first-instance verdict, Chen and others appealed. The Intermediate People's Court of Yancheng City in Jiangsu Province ruled to dismiss the appeal and upheld the original judgment.The People's Court imposed corresponding penalties based on the position and role of the organizers and leaders of the cross-border online pyramid scheme activities in the entire criminal chain, and legally confiscated the involved virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, cutting off the defendants' economic ability to commit cross-border crimes again, demonstrating the judicial authority's firm stance in safeguarding internet financial security and maintaining the stable and healthy development of the financial market order.

ChainCatcher news, according to Sing Tao Daily, the Hong Kong police received a report last Tuesday (12th) from a 46-year-old local woman, stating that she had received a message on Instagram recommending her to invest in virtual currency through a website. The reporter followed the instructions to create an account on the website and transferred a total of approximately HKD 7.1 million to 15 designated local bank accounts for investment in 25 transactions between August 19, 2022, and March 4, 2023, without receiving any returns. The reporter later failed to withdraw money through the website and could not contact the relevant individuals, suspecting she had been scammed, and thus reported the case. The victim suffered a loss of approximately HKD 7.1 million.After preliminary investigation, the case is classified as obtaining property by deception and has been handed over to the third team of the Western District Criminal Investigation Team for follow-up, with no arrests made yet.The police reiterated that anyone who violates Section 12 of the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) of Hong Kong law, "obtaining property by deception," faces a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment, and citizens should not test the law.

ChainCatcher news, this afternoon in Hong Kong a press conference was held regarding the AAX fraud case. According to the press conference, two employees have been arrested, a 37-year-old and a 44-year-old man from Hong Kong. Sources speculate based on their ages that the two may be AAX executives.Previous report, AAX has hidden its official YouTube channel, and withdrawals have been suspended for over 15 days. (Source link)