TL;DR Breakdown
- China records first illegal use case of digital yuan.
- 11 criminals arrested, to face trial of illegal use of cbdc.
- China warned about sophisticated scam with CBDC before now.
Ever since the digital yuan, China’s CBDC has been rolled out for its final test, the digital currency has never been used to commit any crime until now.
Reports emerged on Wednesday that Chinese officials have cracked down on a criminal group connected to a money laundering charge. The group reportedly scammed a person for 200,000 yuan (about $32,000) and used a digital yuan wallet to launder the funds.
Chinese officials in the country have detained 11 suspects in the first-ever money laundering case involving its central bank digital currency (CBDC).
26-year-old, 11 others to face criminal trial for Digital yuan scam
The group defrauded one victim at Xinmi province for 200,000 yuan Xinmi province for 200,000 yuan (about $32,000). They used the digital yuan wallet to launder the funds and send it out of China.
One 26-year-old female suspected has been arrested alongside 11 others believed to be involved in the scam. They would all face criminal charges. Based on their investigation, officials allege the group used the digital yuan service to launder funds by routing the funds to an overseas fraud group hiding in Cambodia.
Authorities anticipated CBDC scam before now
Chinese police before now have been warning residents of sophisticated” CBDC-themed scam. They sounded the warning since February.
After a scam named “Central Bank’s International Wallet,” they sent the warning claimed to be a digital yuan wallet platform.
The operators advertised that the platform will give members the possibility to access a “secret CBDC promotion fund” worth $186 million.
The entire charade was a scam, the police warned as the operators also promised users that they would get 2 percent of bonuses per deposit.
The People’s Bank of China has been actively warning people of the surge of bogus organizations that claim to be digital yuan promoters.
