ChainCatcher News: The Beijing Fengtai police have cracked a virtual currency pyramid scheme case. The public security department found that the complainant was actually the suspect.It is reported that the suspect, Xie, joined an organization called "Hua's Association" through a friend's introduction and invested by purchasing virtual currency. After making a profit from a small initial investment, he continued to invest 2 million yuan of his family's savings but did not receive any returns. After being trapped, Xie began to "recruit people" as required by the pyramid scheme, earning commissions and dynamic dividends at different levels, making him a key member of the pyramid scheme in Beijing, developing 9 levels of downlines and involving over 300 people. As the investment platform collapsed, Xie chose to report to the police when faced with debt collection from downline investors.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Legal Daily, the Public Security Bureau of Hechi City, Guangxi, has cracked a pyramid scheme case involving a live-streaming e-commerce APP related to virtual currency. The suspects used an APP called "Dimension" to create groups and conduct live-streaming sales, establishing a pyramid scheme model that involved recruiting new members and offering online registration rebates. They promoted virtual services through the app's in-app purchase function and distributed rewards called "Dimension Coins" set by the platform. Meanwhile, they continuously touted electronic commerce, virtual currency, and national-level projects in their promotions to cover up the essence of profiting through recruiting downlines.It is reported that in mid-November 2023, after meticulous police deployment, this new type of online pyramid scheme case involving over 300 million yuan and up to 3.5 million members was successfully cracked. As of last month, 13 suspects have been arrested, including 7 detained, 5 released on bail, and 1 transferred for handling. The case is currently in the process of further improving relevant evidence materials and undergoing trial transfer.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Procuratorial Daily report, the Xichuan County Procuratorate in Henan Province recently handled a virtual currency pyramid scheme case involving an amount of 120 million yuan. The suspect Wang entrusted a high-tech company to customize software, set up the "Red Bull Decentralized Exchange" website, and publicly issued "NB Coin (Bull Coin)" online, developing a corresponding Red Bull trading app to carry out pyramid scheme activities under the guise of "virtual currency" and "blockchain," and established the "Red Bull Business School Lecturer Group" for offline promotion and publicity. In just one year, the involved gang developed 2,128 members and defrauded over 120 million yuan in property.According to the identification by the judicial appraisal agency, the "Red Bull Decentralized Exchange" user hierarchy information totaled 1,322,474 entries, with users recharging virtual currencies such as USDT and BTC, among which the amount of USDT was 2,0181,988.4840085 (valued at approximately 120 million yuan). On July 14 of this year, the Nanyang Intermediate Court revoked the first-instance judgment against Wang, sentencing him to five years and nine months in prison for organizing and leading pyramid scheme activities, and imposing a fine of 500,000 yuan.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Liaocheng Public Security WeChat account, the Public Security Bureau of Shenxian County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, has successfully cracked the city's first case of pyramid schemes involving virtual currency, "12·04". Six leaders and key members of the pyramid scheme were arrested, and over 10 million yuan in illegal gains was recovered.In December 2022, police from the Shenxian Public Security Bureau discovered virtual currency pyramid scheme activities on the Binance Smart Chain during an online patrol. The project used the "token pocket" wallet and smart contracts to issue decentralized cryptocurrencies DCS and CAR, enticing participants with high returns to inflate the prices of DCS and CAR, and recruit new members, suspected of being involved in pyramid scheme activities. The special task force had previously set up a forward command center in Qingdao and received assistance from public security agencies in Tai'an, Weifang, Xi'an, Fuzhou, and other locations.

ChainCatcher news, recently, the Xianshankou Branch of the Public Security Bureau of Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province successfully dismantled a network pyramid scheme criminal gang that used blockchain technology to issue "USEA coins" and "TVL coins". Three main suspects were arrested, 1.42 million "Tether" coins involved in the case were seized, along with 2 computers, 12 mobile phones, and 30 bank cards, with the amount involved exceeding 10 million yuan.In May of this year, police officers from the branch discovered during their work that the local community's participation in the "Huanya International Tourism" project was suspected of organizing and leading network pyramid scheme crimes. This gang used blockchain technology to develop "TVL" coins and issue "USEA" virtual currency, using social networking platforms such as WeChat and QQ as a medium, adopting a "referral" method to recruit members. They lured members to invest by selling virtual currency and offering economic benefits such as commission rebates and dividends, inciting and inducing members to develop multiple levels of downlines. Over a period of more than three months, they developed downline members to 4 levels, totaling over 3,000 people.Currently, the three suspects have been subjected to criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law, and the case is still under further investigation. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the People's Procuratorate of Danju District, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province recently prosecuted the suspect of the "moomworld" project. The court sentenced Chen to three years in prison for organizing and leading pyramid scheme activities, and imposed a fine of 500,000 yuan.According to the investigation by the public security organs, around June 2020, Chen, along with Chen A, Tang, Lai, and Yu (all handled in separate cases), developed the "moomworld" project in Malaysia, promoting MT and SGB virtual currencies through an online platform, and engaged in illegal pyramid scheme activities by recruiting members and expanding the downline. By the time of the incident, the platform had accumulated over 100,000 registered members, with levels reaching 1,173, and members had recharged 13,189,726.171886 USDT, equivalent to 83,886,658.45 yuan. (source link)