On December 19, 2023, the Almaty District Court sentenced two organizers of P2P transactions to prison terms, deeming them participants in a fraudulent scheme, according to the legal agency Cartesius.
The investigation into the defendants began a year and a half ago. According to the case materials, two individuals conducted P2P transactions for cash through a counterparty. It was later discovered that some of the funds came from elderly women who had fallen victim to phone scammers.
Lawyers stated that the exchange organizers were unknowingly involved in a “triangle” scheme. Nevertheless, law enforcement charged them with aiding fraud and conspiring with the perpetrators.
The defense provided comprehensive information on each cryptocurrency sale transaction: correspondence with counterparties, transaction hashes on the Tron network, the movement of exchange funds to centralized exchanges, and the movement of bitcoins purchased by phone scammers using defrauded victims’ funds.
However, the investigation and court ignored this information, claim Cartesius lawyers.
According to the court’s conclusion, correspondence with counterparties is “evidence that the accused were personally acquainted with unidentified individuals and had a joint criminal intent.” Witness testimony regarding the legality of the exchange operations was deemed to “contradict the defendants’ defense position.”
As a result, the court sentenced the individuals to six years and eight months in prison. The defendants did not plead guilty, and the defense has filed an appeal.
Earlier in February 2023, a court in Russia found a participant in a P2P transaction guilty of fraud.