According to CCTV News, the police in Qingshui County, Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, recently successfully cracked a fraud case involving money laundering through the use of the virtual currency USDT. They arrested 21 suspects, seized over 40 mobile phones, confiscated over 200,000 yuan in cash, and seized over 1 million yuan worth of USDT. On April 1, 2023, during the verification of clues, the police in Qingshui discovered unusual financial transactions in the bank account of Zhao Mouyue, a resident of Longgang Town in Qingshui County, which raised significant suspicion of money laundering. The police immediately launched a thorough investigation and, after analysis, careful investigation, and research, found that this was a case of illegal criminal activity involving fraud and money laundering through the use of USDT.
Upon investigation, it was found that since October 2021, Zhou, through the establishment of off-exchange trading groups for USDT, had been purchasing USDT at low prices and then selling them at higher prices through WeChat groups and score-running platforms to facilitate illegal profit-making activities between USDT and Chinese yuan for individuals involved in cybercrime. Following a lawful examination, it was determined that this criminal group facilitated the payment and settlement of over 54.8 million USDT, equivalent to over 380 million yuan, for individuals engaged in cybercrime activities.