A Taiwanese resident with the surname Chiu and three of his accomplices were charged with organizing the country’s largest cryptocurrency money-laundering scheme, according to местные СМИ.
According to investigators, several criminal groups from Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Malaysia were involved in killings, as well as fraud and theft of funds through the Taishin Securities brokerage app.
Chiu allegedly helped them and other perpetrators, including illegal casinos, to transfer funds into cryptocurrencies. For his services he received a percentage of each transaction.
It has been established that from mid-February 2022 the suspect’s wallet processed transactions totaling 320 million USDT, with a market value of more than NT$10.4 billion. Additionally, police traced transfers of 2.1 million USDT (about NT$70 million).
Chiu was arrested at the airport in June 2023. During searches, authorities seized a Lamborghini Urus and a Lexus LM, as well as three Audemars Piguet watches, NT$210,000 in cash, laptops, phones, debit cards, savings books and drugs.
The case has been referred to the prosecutor’s office. Chiu remains in custody with bail set at NT$100,000. Various pre-trial measures have also been imposed on his accomplices.
In September, Singapore police confiscated about $1.8 billion as part of the country’s largest money laundering case tied to digital assets.