Zhoushan Court Concludes USDT-Related Crime Case

According to Foresight News, the Zhoushan Dinghai Court recently concluded a case involving the use of USDT transactions for criminal activities. Between October 2022 and August 2023, an individual named Huang organized a group, including Yao, Guo, Yu, and others, to register multiple 'businesses' on a foreign virtual currency platform. They profited through joint dividends and buying USDT at low prices to sell high. The court noted that the suspects were aware of potential illegal activities upstream in the transactions. Despite this, they used employee WeChat accounts to receive transfers from victims Gan and Wen, subsequently depositing Tether into designated accounts to facilitate the transfer of funds related to telecom fraud and other crimes. During this period, the 'businesses' frequently encountered WeChat account suspensions and freezes due to suspected fraud. The involved parties resorted to fabricating false transaction screenshots and courier numbers to unfreeze accounts or switched accounts to evade regulation. The Dinghai Court considered the roles of each defendant in the joint crime, their restitution efforts, and their attitudes towards admitting guilt. Huang was sentenced to two years and eleven months in prison and fined 50,000 yuan for aiding information network criminal activities. Nine accomplices, including Yao and Guo, received sentences ranging from seven months to two years and three months, all with probation, and were fined. The court ordered the return of 877,000 yuan in seized illicit funds to the victims, and the confiscation of mobile phones, hard drives, and other tools used in the crime.