ChainCatcher news, according to Reuters, a Nigerian judge will expedite the hearing of a money laundering case involving Binance and its two executives next week. The hearing originally scheduled for October 11 is now set for September 2. The wife of Binance executive Tigan Gambaryan, who has been detained, stated earlier this month that Tigan Gambaryan has been held in Nigeria since February, and his health has deteriorated in prison.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg citing informed sources, Citigroup, DBS Group Holdings Ltd., and several other banks are increasing their scrutiny of wealthy clients and potential clients after being implicated in Singapore's largest money laundering scandal, in order to avoid exposure to illegal fund flows.Informed sources stated that private bankers at several institutions are also undergoing additional training to help them identify the means used by criminals to conceal their backgrounds and sources of funds. These sources requested anonymity as they are discussing private matters.These voluntary measures indicate that lending institutions are working to close loopholes that previously allowed a group of criminals to launder over S$3 billion (approximately US$2.23 billion) in online gambling proceeds through at least 16 financial institutions in Singapore. This scandal has damaged Singapore's reputation and exposed weaknesses in local and foreign banks and brokerage firms in screening clients.The Monetary Authority of Singapore recently completed on-site inspections of some of the banks involved. Informed sources indicated that banks with the most transactions with these criminals (including deposit accounts, loans, and other financial services) are expected to face fines and other penalties after the financial regulators complete their review.

ChainCatcher news, according to Sky News, the Southwark Crown Court in London has ruled in the second instance that 42-year-old Chinese national Qian Zhimin is guilty of money laundering and will serve more than 6 years in prison.Previously, Qian Zhimin attempted to purchase multiple luxury properties in London, including a £23.5 million seven-bedroom mansion in Hampstead and a £12.5 million mansion with a private cinema and gym, which drew the attention of the police.Investigations revealed that over £3 billion worth of 61,000 bitcoins were found in a digital wallet, setting a record for the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK. Currently, there are still 23,300 bitcoins in circulation, valued at over £1 billion.It is alleged that these bitcoins originated from a £5 billion investment fraud case carried out in China from 2014 to 2017, with the funds being transferred abroad and used to purchase cryptocurrencies. Qian Zhimin did not directly participate in the fraud but acted as a "front" to help disguise the source of the laundered funds.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ming Pao, the Hong Kong police have launched an operation codenamed "Kongding" in the Sham Shui Po district over the past two weeks to combat fraud and money laundering cases, arresting 100 people, most of whom are puppet account holders. This involves laundering the criminal proceeds from 82 fraud cases, amounting to 180 million HKD, with the largest virtual currency investment fraud case exceeding 20 million HKD.It is reported that among those arrested, 3 men and 1 woman have been charged with obtaining property by deception and money laundering. They appeared in the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court from the 7th to the 18th of this month, while the others have been granted bail and are required to report to the police in June.

ChainCatcher news, on March 18 local time in the UK, 42-year-old British-Chinese Jian Wen was found by a UK court to have "participated in arranging money laundering," which could result in a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Jian Wen's defense lawyer, Mark Harries, stated that due to the judge's busy schedule, the UK court has postponed the final sentencing for Jian Wen from May 10 to May 24.Previous news, according to Caixin reports, the main suspect in the UK’s 60,000 Bitcoin money laundering case and the Tianjin Lantian Ge Rui 43 billion yuan illegal fundraising case, Qian Zhimin, has recently been apprehended in the UK after being on the run for 7 years in China and 4 years in the UK. His assistant, Jian Wen, a co-conspirator in the UK money laundering case, had previously been arrested and is set to be sentenced on May 10 local time in London.

ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin reports, the main suspect Qian Zhimin in the UK’s 60,000 Bitcoin money laundering case and the Tianjin Lantian Ge Rui 43 billion yuan illegal fundraising case has recently been apprehended in the UK after being on the run for 7 years in China and 4 years in the UK. His assistant, Wen Jian, a co-conspirator in the UK money laundering case, has previously been arrested and is under trial, with a verdict expected to be announced on May 10 local time in London.

ChainCatcher news reports that, according to the Straits Times, in a sensational S$3 billion money laundering case in Singapore, one of the defendants, Zhang Ruijin (45 years old), was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty. Zhang Ruijin is accused of transferring S$36 million of criminal proceeds to his bank account in Singapore through a Hong Kong company and forging documents to deceive local banks. He is involved in the highest amount in this case, and his sentence is currently the longest among the defendants.It is reported that Zhang Ruijin is accused of transferring S$36 million of criminal proceeds to his bank account in Singapore through a Hong Kong company and forging documents to deceive local banks. Zhang Ruijin faces four charges of violating the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, as well as four charges of using forged documents.The judge stated during sentencing that considering the complexity of Zhang Ruijin's case, which involves transnational crime and the use of forged documents to deceive banks, the punishment must have sufficient deterrent effect to maintain the reputation of Singapore as an international financial center.The total value of the assets seized from Zhang Ruijin is approximately S$131 million, including cash, real estate, vehicles, and cryptocurrencies, of which about 90% of the assets were confiscated after the case was adjudicated, including two villas located on Sentosa's Pearl Island valued at S$16 million and S$15.5 million, which are individually owned by him and his mother.

ChainCatcher news, the Public Security Bureau of Linyi County, Shandong Province successfully dismantled a criminal gang that used a "money-running team" to launder money for overseas scammers through the purchase of virtual currency, arresting 6 suspects involved in illegal activities, with a case value of over 2 million yuan.The Linyi County Public Security Bureau received a tip-off: a bank card under the name of Ma was involved in online fraud activities. After meticulous investigation, the police discovered that Ma used his own bank card to receive criminal funds and repeatedly withdrew cash at bank counters and ATMs to transfer the criminal funds. At the same time, Ma also introduced "card farmers" Wang and Liu to provide cards and withdraw cash. The police arrested Ma and the other two, and during interrogation, a multi-person, clearly divided "money-running team" gang surfaced.Through close cooperation among multiple police departments, the police successfully captured Ma's "upper-level" Zhao. Zhao truthfully confessed that he, along with Zhang and Yang, conspired to launder money for overseas scammers using the "card return to U" method. Ultimately, the police arrested Zhang, a key member of the gang, in Tianjin.Thus, a "money-running team" gang that had a complex and hidden funding channel, utilizing "card farmers" and other low-income groups to withdraw cash at bank counters and ATMs, transferring fraud-related funds through "small amounts and multiple transactions" and "card return to U" methods was completely dismantled. Currently, the 6 individuals involved have been subjected to criminal coercive measures according to the law, and the case is under further investigation. (Dazhong Daily)

ChainCatcher news, Hong Kong Customs reported the successful investigation of a major money laundering case involving an amount as high as 1.8 billion HKD. Preliminary investigations revealed that a criminal group consisting of 3 members processed over 1,000 suspicious transactions between June 2021 and July 2022 by setting up multiple shell companies and bank accounts, including a large amount of suspicious fund transfers from virtual currency trading platforms. This indicates that criminals are attempting to launder illegal proceeds by exploiting the anonymity of virtual currencies. Currently, Customs has arrested 3 key members of the criminal group, sealed the involved companies, and confiscated a large number of criminal tools, including mobile phones, company seals, and bank cards. The case is still under further investigation, and more suspects may be arrested. This case serves as a warning, reminding the virtual currency industry to remain vigilant and strictly adhere to anti-money laundering regulations.

ChainCatcher news, Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced the second wave of detentions related to a cryptocurrency money laundering case, which stems from unregistered oil sales conducted with various currencies and cryptocurrencies.Former president of the state oil company PDVSA Tareck El Aissami, former Minister of Economy Simon Alejandro Zerpa, and entrepreneur Samark Lopez have been arrested, accused of laundering money through exchanges such as Kraken and investing in cryptocurrency mining farms.

ChainCatcher news, according to reports from the Hong Kong Public Network, the Hong Kong police launched anti-money laundering operations codenamed "Hammer Strike" and "Conspiracy Attack" on the 8th, arresting a total of 12 people. They are suspected of laundering approximately 30 million Hong Kong dollars involved in fraud cases through large withdrawals and trading virtual currencies.The police noticed that a large amount of proceeds from fraud crimes flowed into local bank accounts between January and October this year. The Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Division conducted an in-depth investigation and found that the criminal proceeds related to 32 local and overseas phone scams and investment frauds flowed into 54 local bank accounts. The total loss amount for the victims in these cases reached 97 million Hong Kong dollars, with the highest amount involved in a single case exceeding 2.4 million dollars. After investigation, a local money laundering criminal group was identified, which recruited friends and relatives to open numerous bank accounts. They used mobile dating applications to attract victims with high-return investment plans, enticing them to transfer money to the involved bank accounts. After receiving the fraudulent funds, group members quickly withdrew large amounts of cash, then purchased virtual currencies and repeatedly bought and sold to disguise the source of the funds.The police conducted surprise searches at multiple locations the day before yesterday, including two virtual currency investment companies, arresting 5 men and 7 women. Eleven individuals are suspected of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one person is suspected of obstructing police duties. The ages of those arrested range from 20 to 45 years old, and they are suspected of laundering approximately 30 million Hong Kong dollars through large withdrawals and trading virtual currencies. During the operation, about 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars in cash, more than 25 bank cards, several smartphones, and computers were seized. The 12 individuals are currently in police custody, and the police do not rule out the possibility of more arrests.

ChainCatcher news, according to China National Radio, the Wuchang District Branch of the Wuhan Public Security Bureau has successfully dismantled a gang that used virtual currency for money laundering through the collaboration of three centers: the "Intelligence, Guidance, and Action" Integrated Center, the Law Enforcement Case Management Center, and the Synthetic Operations Center. Seven arrest teams simultaneously conducted operations in provinces and cities such as Deyang in Sichuan, Changchun in Jilin, and Dongguan in Guangdong, resulting in the criminal detention of 27 individuals. The funds flowing through the accounts controlled by this gang reached 1 billion yuan.Investigations revealed that since April of this year, the suspect, referred to as "Certain," contacted his "superior" through the "Airplane" software to accept tasks, organizing gang members to use proceeds from telecom fraud to purchase digital virtual currency online, which was then transferred to the superior's account, thus helping the telecom fraud gang launder money and earning commissions in the process. Preliminary statistics indicate that this money laundering gang was involved in funds amounting to as much as 1 billion yuan. The case is currently under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, the Chongqing Tongliang Court concluded a case on October 24 involving the transfer of funds to overseas criminals, with an amount exceeding 2.25 billion yuan and 21 individuals sentenced. The defendants received USDT converted from the proceeds of crimes such as online fraud and online gambling committed by upstream criminals through offline BitPay wallets and other means, and then sold it on virtual currency trading platforms.It is reported that by fabricating excuses such as withdrawing project funds and migrant workers' wages, the gang members organized to withdraw cash at bank counters in multiple provinces and cities including Chongqing, Sichuan, and Shanghai, delivering the cash to designated recipients specified by the upstream. Each cash delivery ranged from 10 million to several tens of millions of yuan. By the time the case was uncovered, Jiang and others had transferred a total of over 2.25 billion yuan to overseas individuals in this manner, with total profits exceeding 22.62 million yuan.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, a Singaporean official stated that in an ongoing money laundering investigation, authorities have seized or frozen assets worth over 2.8 billion Singapore dollars (approximately 2 billion USD), while indicating that the government may tighten immigration regulations to curb the influx of illegal funds.It is understood that the initial amount involved was over 1 billion Singapore dollars, which later increased to 1.8 billion Singapore dollars, rising to 2.4 billion Singapore dollars on September 20, and as of today (October 3), the total amount of frozen or restricted assets has increased to 2.8 billion Singapore dollars.Earlier reports indicated that the 10 foreign nationals arrested in this case are suspected of crimes such as forgery and money laundering, with the total value of the involved assets estimated at around 1 billion Singapore dollars, and it is preliminarily determined that all 10 individuals are originally from Fujian Province, China.

ChainCatcher news, according to Lianhe Zaobao, in the largest money laundering case ever investigated in August, the Singapore police have currently seized assets worth over 2.4 billion Singapore dollars (equivalent to 12.72 billion yuan) and issued a disposal prohibition order.In addition, the police have confiscated deposits of over 1.127 billion dollars in bank accounts, cash exceeding 76 million Singapore dollars (including foreign currencies), 68 gold bars, 294 luxury bags, 164 luxury watches, 546 pieces of jewelry, over 38 million Singapore dollars (approximately 200 million yuan) in cryptocurrency, and 204 electronic devices.According to previous reports, the 10 foreign nationals arrested in this case are suspected of crimes such as forgery and money laundering, with the total value of the involved assets estimated at around 1 billion Singapore dollars. Preliminary assessments indicate that all 10 individuals are originally from Fujian Province, China.