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An ex-takeaway worker living in the UK has been found guilty of laundering funds for a Chinese fraudster and managing over £2 billion ($2.5 billion ) in Bitcoin that has now been seized by police.   The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced Jian Wen’s conviction at Southwark Court on Wednesday. It noted that the 42-year-old was guilty of one of three money laundering charges.  Wen had reportedly lived a ‘modest lifestyle’ in Leeds before meeting Yadi Zhang, real name Zhimin Qian. Zhang is a Chinese national and a wanted fugitive accused of making $6 billion in Bitcoin through scamming nationals in China.   The two moved to London and bought a six-bedroom manor house in 2017. They reportedly claimed to be international jewelers with Wen acting as a ‘front person.’ Zhang gave Wen 3,000 bitcoins, worth £15 million at the time and Wen helped convert it into various luxury items, cash, and property to disguise the true source of the funds. ...

Security analysts have warned crypto traders using MacOS to exercise caution when downloading bootleg apps, as newly discovered malware steals their bags. On Monday, Kaspersky published its report detailing how bad actors are spreading infected versions of popular software that tricks traders into opening infected versions of their crypto wallets. An Apple device running MacOS Ventura 13.6 or later is at risk. The report outlines how an ‘Activator’ program, added to the files of pirated apps, forces the installation and launch of malware that gives Hack ers access to the device. “Once the malware installs itself, it’ll begin checking for the presence of Bitcoin and Exodus cryptocurrency wallets,” Kapersky said. “If found, the malware will then secretly replace the wallet with its own infected version to loot the user’s digital currency .” ‘Activator’ requests the user’s login credentials so that the app can gain admin p...

Convicted pharma fraudster Martin Shkreli told a Daily Beast reporter to “lick my balls ” on social media yesterday after the New York Department of Education (DoE) canceled his scheduled crypto talk at a Brooklyn high school. Students at Brooklyn Tech had invited the former pharmaceutical chief to give a talk on the industry, along with crypto and AI, slated for Tuesday. Shkreli, who served nearly seven years in prison for securities fraud, brought social media attention to the event after telling a reporter that he wasn’t welcome. “Daily Beast, you’re not invited to the main event,” Shkreli wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “However, I will offer you an exclusive opportunity to lick my balls immediately afterward.” Hours later, Shkreli’s talk was “indefinitely postponed.” Brooklyn Tech’s crypto club said on Instagram that the DoE saw it as a “bad PR risk.” Shkreli claimed the Department ...

Nepalese police have uncovered an international gang of gold smugglers that secretly moved over 33kg of gold into the country in exchange for $16 million worth of Tether ( USDT ). According to local media, Dolakha police held a press conference on Tuesday detailing how the gang moved the gold through the Lamabagar border checkpoint with China between November 2022 and September 2023. Police revealed that over the course of a year, the gang sold the gold for Rs. 2.19 billion ($16 million) worth of USDT using 12 crypto wallets. Police also reportedly revealed that the crypto might be linked to illicit activities separate from the gold smuggling. The smugglers are said to have employed children to help hide the gold inside potato and flour sacks before transporting it to Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. Tether’s history with China goes far beyond commercial paper Read more: Brazil gang caught laundering illegal gold with crypto In return, the smugglers reportedly sent the s...

The ideal candidate to join the National Crime Agency will be an existing member of the police staff who is a certified accredited financial investigator (AFI). The National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom is hiring two blockchain investigator s for its newly formed Digital Assets Team within the Complex Financial Crime Team (CFCT) to tackle crypto crime s. The job involves overseeing complex investigations involving crypto currency and digital assets from a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) perspective. POCA relates to the confiscation and redirection of crime money toward community benefit. National Crime Agency’s job posting for crypto crime investigators. Source: LinkedIn The ideal candidate will be an existing member of the police staff who is a certified accredited financial investigator (AFI). In addition, other requirement includes experience in blockchain Analysis , criminal investigation and understanding of the legislation among others. The job pays a salary of appro...

In a public service announcement published on Monday, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) warned citizens of fake job ads that lure people to Southeast Asia, where they’re held against their will and forced to commit international crypto scams on unsuspecting victims . The fake jobs could be anything from tech support, call centre customer service, and beauty salon technicians, the FBI stated. In order to lure victims, lucrative benefits, salaries, and accommodation are offered. But once they land in the country wherein they believe they’ll be working, victims have their passports confiscated and they’re threatened with violence unless they commit crypto scams online. What’s more, they’re told they must pay off mounting debt — travel fees, room and board, and on occasion, their debt gets worse when they’re sold to other criminal groups. These types of scams often target Asia-based victims, the FBI noted. Indeed, reports of crypto scam rings using enslaved individuals r...

The son of a former Australia n politician has been charged with running a dark web crypto -for- drugs operation. Police claim that over a period of six years, 37-year-old Mark Chikarovski, son of Kerry Chikarovski, a former New South Wales Liberal leader, took thousands of orders for illicit substances, including MDMA, meth, and cocaine. When police arrested Chikarovski at his Bondi apartment on Thursday, he was reportedly wearing gloves and was in the middle of preparing drugs for postage. When authorities searched his property, they discovered roughly $269,000 worth of crypto , $30,000 in cash, computers, drugs, and two Porsche SUVs. Police have charged the son of former New South Wales Liberal leader Kerry Chikarovski with supplying drugs on the dark web. 37-year-old Mark Chikarovski was arrested yesterday. Detectives raided two homes at Bondi Junction and Vaucluse. https://t.co/TWh1KQgBAw #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/iXiNdTx1gR — 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) May 19, 2023 Th...