China has extradited a suspect named Zhang from Thailand. Zhang is believed to have led a massive $14 billion pyramid scheme involving cryptocurrencies, making him the first financial crime suspect to be extradited under the China-Thailand extradition treaty that came into effect in 1999.
China’s Ministry of Public Security announced today that Chinese and Thai authorities formed a special task force called “Hunting Fox” and extradited Zhang to China on Wednesday.
Zhang is accused of masterminding a fraud called “MBI Group” since 2012, which lured investors into paying fees ranging from 700 yuan ($98) to 245,000 yuan ($34,300) in exchange for issuing cryptocurrency to become members. Authorities said the group lured more than 10 million members with promises of high returns, and involved funds exceeding 100 billion yuan ($14 billion).
According to a police statement, police in Chongqing, a first-tier city in southwestern China, began investigating Zhang in November 2020. In March 2021, Interpol China issued a red notice against Zhang. Then, in July 2022, Thai police arrested him, and a Thai court ruled in May this year to extradite Zhang to China.
China banned cryptocurrency trading activities on the mainland in 2021, but many investors still tried to circumvent the rules. In May, Chinese police Blow up the underground bank The USDT stablecoin was used for foreign exchange transactions involving at least 13.8 billion yuan (US$1.9 billion) worth of transactions.
Earlier this week, China’s top legal authority Included According to judicial interpretations, using cryptocurrencies to transfer illicit funds is a method of money laundering, making it easier to investigate and prosecute money laundering cases involving cryptocurrencies.
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