sentenced

A man in Anshun, Guizhou, used the name of a virtual currency airdrop project as a pretext to lure friends into investing with the bait of guaranteed high returns, ultimately crossing the legal red line. The People's Procuratorate of Pingba District, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, filed a public prosecution, and the court sentenced Zhao to seven months in prison for fraud, along with a fine of 5,000 yuan.Zhao had been paying attention to the field of virtual currency investment for many years and had long been posting investment insights and financial management tips on social media platforms. Zhang was also a virtual currency enthusiast, and the two met on a social platform due to their common interests, gradually becoming friends and frequently discussing investment strategies online. Through long-term communication, Zhao gained Zhang's trust with seemingly professional investment analysis. Subsequently, Zhao proposed a joint investment, to which Zhang agreed. However, after a period of investment, Zhang experienced significant losses and expressed his intention to stop further investments.On August 23, 2025, Zhao claimed that a certain app had launched an airdrop project (to promote a new project, encourage user participation, or reward loyal users, distributing native tokens of the project for free to eligible users), persuading Zhang to invest the remaining funds in his account into this project, promising a return of 100 to 200 U coins (virtual currency) within two days. Zhao also guaranteed that if there were any losses during this period, he would bear the responsibility. To further alleviate Zhang's concerns, Zhao claimed that all investment funds would be transferred to a public chain (the public address of the virtual currency). Believing Zhao, Zhang exchanged 1,757 dollars in his account for Ethereum and completed the transfer according to the wallet link provided by Zhao. In reality, the wallet corresponding to that link was a personal account registered using his girlfriend's identity information, not a public chain. The agreed time for the return of funds had passed, but Zhao had not fulfilled his promise. Zhang urged for repayment multiple times, but Zhao evaded responsibility with excuses such as sending the wrong link and needing time to track it down. On September 7 of the same year, Zhang reported the situation to the police after noticing something was wrong.On April 2 of this year, the Pingba District Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Zhao for suspected fraud. The procuratorial agency believed that Zhao deceived others out of property by concealing the truth, with a significant amount involved, constituting the crime of fraud. Given that Zhao truthfully confessed to the criminal facts after being apprehended, showed signs of remorse, and had fully compensated the victim for their losses while voluntarily admitting guilt, he could be punished leniently according to the law.

According to Digital Asset, a South Korean court has made a first-instance ruling regarding Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho involved in a cryptocurrency fraud case amounting to approximately 250 billion won (about 180 million USD), sentencing him to 15 years in prison.The 11th Criminal Division of the Southern District Court of Seoul stated that Jeong's criminal conduct was serious, and he continued to shift responsibility to other companies while attempting to evade accountability. This ruling comes about three years and two months after Delio suspended withdrawals in June 2023.

According to the Procuratorial Daily, an employee of a company in Shenzhen, under the pressure of over 400,000 yuan in online loans, stole the company's core research and development materials and disguised himself as an overseas hacker, demanding a ransom of 0.88 bitcoins and 90,000 USDT from the company. He was ultimately sentenced to three years and three months in prison for attempted extortion and fined 10,000 yuan.

According to The Block, former Los Angeles police officer Eric Halem was sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years for his involvement in a cryptocurrency-related robbery case.

Justin Ryan Schmidt, the founder of the cryptocurrency investment fund Translunar Crypto LP, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison by a U.S. court for tax evasion. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the 46-year-old Schmidt pleaded guilty this year in federal court in Austin, Texas, where he was accused of underreporting income, declaring less than $5,000 in income from 2020 to 2022, while prosecutors claimed he actually earned over $7 million through fund operations from 2019 to 2022.It is reported that Schmidt founded Translunar in 2017, primarily investing in blockchain startups, with funding mainly coming from investors in the Austin area of Texas and Aspen, Colorado. He was arrested by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division on February 23, 2026, and has been in custody since then.

According to a report by The Paper, the Intermediate People's Court of Xilin Gol League in Inner Mongolia upheld the original verdict in the second trial of the case involving Ma for illegal business operations. This case is part of a series of cases where the Sifang payment platform provided funding and payment settlement for gambling platforms. Some defendants in this case were accused of receiving commissions or rebates in the form of virtual currencies such as USDT.It was found that from May 24, 2022, to October 18, 2023, Ma and four others illegally collected and paid funds through third-party payment accounts, and received USDT virtual currency and bank card payments through virtual wallets. They settled amounts exceeding 2.95 billion yuan through 105 merchants of 10 third-party payment companies.Ultimately, the court determined that Ma was guilty of illegal business operations, sentencing him to four years and six months in prison and imposing a fine of 3 million yuan. The five individuals who turned themselves in have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 to 6 years for illegal business operations.

According to Protos, a gang in the UK disguised as police officers and created a fake police website, convincing cryptocurrency holders over the phone to transfer funds into so-called "safe accounts," stealing $5.4 million worth of cryptocurrency, and were sentenced this week. 23-year-old Hamza Bashir, 25-year-old Kevin Nwamma, and 29-year-old Anthony Ikenwe were sentenced to six years and nine months, eleven years, and eleven years in prison, respectively.The stolen funds were used to purchase luxury items, including a £60,000 car, vacation trips to Thailand and Japan, and products from brands such as Harrods, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Rolex. The police also discovered £500,000 in cash in a safe and determined that most of the stolen cryptocurrency had been converted into payment cards. Gang members also falsely reported their annual income, with one declaring only £444. The Metropolitan Police began investigating the gang after receiving reports from victims in January 2025.

According to CCTV News, the Shanghai Baoshan District Prosecutor's Office announced a case yesterday, where the defendant Huang was involved in smuggling abroad to participate in telecom fraud activities, enticing victims to invest in virtual currency. After the Myanmar Miaowadi Park was disbanded, Huang continued to engage in "pig butchering" fraud, using AI face-swapping and communication with foreign models to gain the victims' trust, and then guiding them to participate in cryptocurrency investments.Subsequently, the team leader would connect with the victims, deceiving them into registering, recharging, and investing on fake websites, ultimately being sentenced to two years and six months in prison for fraud, along with a fine of 30,000 yuan.

According to The Block, New York man Noman Saleem was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release for impersonating a cryptocurrency influencer to commit fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland stated that Saleem pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud last September, admitting to creating fake Telegram accounts that mimicked well-known cryptocurrency influencers, attracting thousands to join his channel, and setting up paid "VIP sub-channels" to further profit.Prosecutors indicated that Saleem lured multiple victims into transferring digital assets to wallets under his control under the guise of providing staking rewards, but he never actually conducted any staking operations. After obtaining the funds, he cut off contact and disappeared with the money. The victims included at least one resident of Maryland, with the total amount involved exceeding $1.4 million. The U.S. government has recovered most of the defrauded funds.

A New York man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release by a U.S. court for impersonating a cryptocurrency influencer on Telegram and using false staking returns as bait to defraud investors. 39-year-old Noman Saleem pleaded guilty to wire fraud in September 2025.Prosecutors stated that he created multiple fake Telegram accounts impersonating well-known crypto KOLs and attracted thousands of people to join his channels, even setting up paid "VIP sub-channels." Saleem claimed to victims that he could provide "guaranteed returns" through crypto staking or investment opportunities, inducing many to transfer their crypto assets into wallets under his control. However, prosecutors indicated that he did not actually engage in any staking operations and ceased communication after obtaining the funds, taking the victims' assets with him.The case resulted in losses exceeding $1.4 million, and the U.S. government has recovered and seized most of the funds.

According to HK01, the Hong Kong police have cracked a cross-border money laundering case. The involved group used 43 Hong Kong bank accounts to process funds from 34 fraud cases between June and September 2024, amounting to approximately HKD 18 million, and is suspected of laundering up to HKD 230 million in criminal proceeds through cryptocurrency transactions via bank accounts.The police investigation found that a 34-year-old woman from mainland China is suspected of coming to Hong Kong to set up multiple puppet bank accounts, assisting the criminal group in laundering approximately HKD 9.29 million in criminal proceeds, and purchasing cryptocurrency through virtual asset exchange shops to disguise the source and flow of funds. The woman was sentenced to 47.5 months in prison.The Hong Kong police remind that assisting a criminal group in handling funds could face up to 10 years in prison, and those involved in money laundering could face fines of up to HKD 5 million and imprisonment for up to 14 years.

The Hebei High Court released typical cases of cracking down on illegal fundraising. A certain man packaged an investment project with the concept of "metaverse" to promote the virtual goods investment project of the "Newmateworks" platform under the "Yishang United Community" to the public, inducing the masses to participate in the investment. He directly introduced 19 investors who invested a total of 15.3936 million yuan in the platform, of which 1.1014 million yuan has been returned, while 14.2922 million yuan has not been returned. The court found that this case used emerging technology concepts such as "metaverse" as a cover to implement fraudulent marketing, violating national financial management laws and regulations, with a huge amount involved. The behavior constituted the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits, and Chen was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and fined.

The High Court of Hebei Province, China, released typical cases of combating illegal fundraising. A man packaged an investment project with the concept of "metaverse" to promote the virtual goods investment project of the "Newmateworks" platform under the "Yishang United Community" to the public, inducing the public to participate in the investment. He directly introduced 19 investors who invested a total of 15.3936 million yuan, of which 1.1014 million yuan has been returned, while 14.2922 million yuan has not been returned. The court found that this case used emerging technology concepts such as "metaverse" as a cover to implement fraudulent marketing, violating national financial management laws and regulations, with a huge amount involved. The behavior constituted the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits, and he was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and fined.

Recently, the Haidian Court in Beijing, China, made a ruling on a fraud case. Retired elderly man Meng, due to his obsession with virtual currency trading and unwillingness to use his pension, disguised himself as a "Central Ministry" staff member in his 20s named Xiao Hong on a short video platform and established an online romantic relationship with a young man. Meng deceived the young man out of over 200,000 yuan by claiming that his family member was ill and urgently needed surgery, and for other reasons such as preparing for an overseas exam.Meng invested all the over 200,000 yuan he defrauded into virtual currency trading and opened a tenfold leverage account. Subsequently, due to a market downturn, he faced liquidation, resulting in a total loss of funds. The Haidian Procuratorate previously prosecuted Meng for fraud, and the Haidian Court ultimately sentenced Meng to 4 years in prison and imposed a fine, while also ordering him to compensate the victim for their economic losses.

According to Decrypt, Geoffrey K. Auyeung, a resident of the Seattle area in Washington State, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for his involvement in a cryptocurrency money laundering scam. Prosecutors stated that he assisted a criminal gang in defrauding victims under the guise of oil and gas investments from 2022 to 2024, with a total amount involved of approximately $97.1 million.Auyeung was responsible for receiving the proceeds of the scam and transferring them to his accomplices by purchasing cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC to obscure the flow of funds. Prosecutors pointed out that he continued to contact his accomplices even after being charged and arrested, and received illegal proceeds through his wife's bank account. Investigations revealed that Auyeung earned at least approximately $4 million in commissions, and over $2.3 million in bank deposits, approximately $7.1 million in cryptocurrency, and a car have been seized. Most of the funds were ultimately converted into cryptocurrency through platforms such as Gemini, Bitstamp, and Coinbase before being transferred to Binance.

According to a report by Knews, on June 7, the Supreme People's Procuratorate disclosed a new type of virtual currency theft case. A man from Shandong, Zhang, had long assisted an acquaintance, Feng, in handling virtual currency transactions. After gaining Feng's trust, he proactively suggested that Feng switch to a more convenient digital wallet. The asset mnemonic (key) of this type of wallet is generated by randomly selecting 12 combinations from 2048 commonly used English words, which is the core password for storing virtual currency.Taking advantage of the moment when Feng was copying the mnemonic, Zhang memorized 11 complete words solely by sight and strong memory, and also noted the first letter of the last word. That night, relying on fragmented memory to repeatedly test and combine, he successfully unlocked Feng's digital wallet and transferred 107 bitcoins, later selling them for an illegal profit of 660,000 yuan. The court ultimately sentenced him to ten years and nine months in prison for theft and imposed a fine of 100,000 yuan.

According to the "Procuratorial Daily," Lin, Zeng, and Dai conspired to use virtual currency trading as a pretext. During the trading process, they secretly filmed the victim's digital wallet private key and, after the virtual currency was credited, secretly logged into the victim's wallet to reverse the transaction, transferring the related virtual currency back to their controlled accounts. The three committed the crime three times, causing the victim a total economic loss of 660,000 yuan.The first-instance court held that in the absence of a clear judicial interpretation regarding the valuation method of virtual currency and sentencing standards, it was inappropriate to directly determine the amount involved as particularly huge based on the victim's purchase amount of 660,000 yuan. Therefore, they sentenced the three based on "other serious circumstances," imposing prison terms ranging from eight years to five years and six months, along with fines. The Hanyang District Procuratorate of Wuhan City in Hubei Province subsequently filed an appeal, which was supported by the Wuhan City Procuratorate.The prosecution argued that the first-instance court applied the law incorrectly and imposed an excessively light sentence. Prosecutor Dai Wentao of the Wuhan City Procuratorate stated that in the case where the victim had a clear loss amount to refer to, it was contradictory and legally erroneous to claim that the value of virtual currency could not be determined. In judicial practice, using the resale price and transaction price as the basis for determining the amount of theft has become mainstream, and determining the value of virtual currency based on the actual cost paid by the victim has factual, legal, and practical basis.The Intermediate Court of Wuhan accepted the prosecution's opinion in the second instance, revoked the corresponding content of the original judgment, and changed the determination of the theft amount to particularly huge. It sentenced the principal offender Lin to ten years and six months in prison for theft, and sentenced the accomplices Zeng and Dai to eight years in prison each, along with fines.

Recently, the People's Procuratorate of Licang District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China, handled a Bitcoin theft case. The defendant, Zhang, obtained the mnemonic phrase while assisting an acquaintance in registering a virtual currency wallet, and later transferred 107 BTC in multiple transactions, equivalent to over 50 million yuan at current market prices. Zhang argued that his actions were a "protective takeover," but the prosecution found that he transferred the stolen BTC through multiple trading platforms and exchanged it for over 660,000 yuan. The Licang District Court sentenced Zhang to 10 years and 9 months in prison for theft and imposed a fine of 100,000 yuan; the second instance upheld the original judgment.Reports indicate that the prosecutor handling the case strictly adhered to laws and judicial policies, and after in-depth analysis, concluded that although China's regulatory policies deny the legal currency status of virtual currencies, they do not negate their property attributes, nor do they prohibit citizens from legally holding and circulating them. Bitcoin requires investment in computing power, funds, and other costs to acquire, which gives it economic value; rights holders can achieve exclusive control and management through private keys and mnemonic phrases, aligning with the core characteristics of "property" in criminal law, making it a target for theft. In determining the amount, since virtual currencies have no official pricing, the Licang District Procuratorate discarded market price estimates and used the actual proceeds from the crime of over 660,000 yuan as the amount for theft, ensuring accurate conviction, appropriate sentencing, and unity of guilt and punishment.

The court in Qujiang District, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China recently ruled on a hacker case that used government and enterprise websites as a platform for pornography. The defendant, Zhou, illegally controlled over 150 servers (involving 157 government and enterprise units and well-known apps) through website vulnerabilities, batch-injecting malicious files, forcing redirection to overseas pornographic websites, and selling control permissions for profit. To evade tracking, Zhou rented a house and opened accounts using the identities of friends and relatives, arranged for accomplices to operate

The Fuzhou City Cangshan District People's Procuratorate disclosed that a man was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in prison for theft after stealing 4 Bitcoins from others and illegally profiting about 900,000 yuan, with a fine of 300,000 yuan. The second instance upheld the original verdict.The case shows that at the end of 2020, Wang entrusted Lin to assist in cashing out the Bitcoins he held. During the process of accessing Wang's Bitcoin wallet hard drive and computer, Lin stole the wallet's "private key" and related data, transferring 4 Bitcoins into his own name, and subsequently sold them for profit. In 2024, after Wang discovered abnormal asset activity, he reported it to the police, and Lin was subsequently arrested.The procuratorial authority stated that although current regulations clearly indicate that virtual currencies do not have the status of legal tender, Bitcoins possess value, manageability, and transferability, meeting the general characteristics of "property" in criminal law, and are subject to property crime. Relevant infringement actions will also be held criminally accountable.