PlusToken pyramid founders sentenced to prison in China

The Yancheng City Court in Jiangsu province, China, has sentenced 14 organizers of the PlusToken cryptocurrency pyramid. The South China Morning Post reports this.

Key participants received prison terms ranging from two to 11 years. They were also fined between 120,000 and 6 million yuan.

Launched in spring 2018, the PlusToken pyramid operated as a cryptocurrency wallet. It offered monthly returns of 10-20% and a referral program.

In June 2019, users began complaining about withdrawal issues. In August, police detained six wallet founders on suspicion of fraud. At the time, losses were preliminarily estimated at $3 billion.

In July 2020, Chinese police arrested 27 main suspects and 82 key members of the group. At that time, the losses had risen to $5.8 billion.

In September, the Xiangshui County prosecutor’s office filed charges of organizing and running a fraudulent scheme against six PlusToken founders.

Earlier in November, Chinese authorities sold $4.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency confiscated during the investigation.

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