Taiwan authorities have uncovered the largest money laundering network in the region, processing USDT transactions worth more than $320 million.
While some allege that crypto is heavily used for money laundering, it is, in fact, the nightmare of the bad actors. Blockchain offers traceability of funds, which can help authorities track down criminals who are using crypto for illicit purposes.
How Taiwan Police Tracked Crypto Money Laundering Mastermind
According to the Chinese outlet UDN, the Taiwan authorities have been investigating a mobile software fraud case since last year. They discovered that a 40-year-old merchant, Qiu, had been facilitating the money laundering for the criminals in this case.
Qiu used to charge 1% of the amount to enable criminals to launder money through crypto. After collecting evidence, the Police arrested Qiu on June 13 while he was returning from the Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan.
Through cellphone of Qui, the authorities discovered that he had processed USDT transactions of over $320 million since February 2022.
Taiwan Police seized 210,000 yuan (approx $28,600) in cash, laptop, debit cards, passbooks, and drugs from Qiu. They also seized luxurious items such as three Audemars Piguet (AP) watches and cars: a Lamborghini Urus and Lexus LM.
Read more: How to Use a Blockchain Explorer to Look Up Transactions
Along with Qui, the Police allege that three other men, Liao, Chen, and Huang were responsible for the money laundering.
While some blame cryptocurrency for helping to facilitating money laundering, time and again, the authorities have been able to seize the assets due to the traceability on the blockchain.
Last month, Thai authorities dismantled a crypto scam network and seized $277 million in assets. Prior to that, in August, Hong Kong Police took down a $65 million money laundering operation and arrested 458 people.
Read more: 15 Most Common Crypto Scams To Look Out For
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