Zhong Shi Gao, Naifeng Xu, and Feo Jiang are the three people that US authorities have detained on suspicion of stealing $10 million from financial institutions and utilizing bitcoin exchanges to launder the proceeds. Each of them may spend more than 80 years in jail if proven guilty.
The arrests were made public by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which claimed that the suspects were part of a complex fraud scheme that was aimed at American banks and financial organisations. It has been stated that Gao, Xu, and Jiang employed foreign nationals from China and Taiwan who were temporarily residing in the United States to open bank accounts in the New York City metropolitan area and other locales.
Before the banks learned of the fraudulent, unapproved reports, the suspects either took the credited money or changed it to cryptocurrency and moved it to foreign exchanges. Between 2018 and 2022, there was fraudulent activity, and the con artists made over $10 million from their illegal activities. Almost a dozen banks and other financial organisations were impacted by the heist.
One count each of conspiring to commit bank fraud, conspiring to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, conspiring to engage money laundering, and conspiring to commit aggravated identity theft is brought against Gao, Xu, and Jiang. The maximum sentence for the first two offenses is thirty years in prison each, while the maximum sentence for the third and fourth crimes is twenty years and two years, respectively. Regarding the case, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said that the charges ought to act as a deterrent to fraudsters and cybercriminals who believe they can conceal their identities using cryptocurrencies. He also said that those individuals will be apprehended and prosecuted for their offences.
