PANews reported on September 2nd that Yueyang Public Security Bureau officials disclosed in a September 1st announcement that on July 18th, a special task force of over 70 officers, drawn from the Criminal Investigation Detachment, Yunxi Branch, and other units, simultaneously broke into over 10 arrest locations across the city, dismantling a shady industry that used virtual currency trading as a cover to launder funds for overseas gambling, fraud, and pornographic livestreaming rings. The case involved nearly 170 million RMB. The ring used the overseas encrypted chat app "Paper Plane" to advertise "high-priced cryptocurrency" and entice "cardholders" to provide their bank cards. In just six months, they generated a staggering 170 million RMB in bank transactions, spanning over 20 provinces and municipalities.
Since July 2024, the gang, operating as "blockchain OTC merchants," has established a four-tiered money laundering channel. At the first level, overseas financiers transferred proceeds from fraud, online gambling, and other scams into domestic "dummy accounts." At the second level, a "running fleet" of agents split and transferred the funds to secondary cards. At the third level, "drivers" withdrew cash in the early morning, then handed it over to fourth-tier "backpackers" to deposit in underground banks, ultimately converting it into USDT and repatriating it overseas. Over the past six months, this channel laundered a total of 170 million yuan, accumulating over 1 million yuan in illegal profits. Fifteen suspects have been apprehended and all have been subject to criminal coercive measures, and the case is undergoing further investigation and expansion.