Shandong police in China crack extortion case involving cryptocurrency money laundering, 268 crimes across 5 provinces

According to TechFlow, on November 11, citing Dazhong Daily, police in Dezhou, Shandong recently cracked an extortion case carried out under the guise of environmental inspections. The criminal gang used drones to film farms and impersonated public officials and journalists to publish negative videos, luring farm operators into paying to remove posts.

Police investigation found that the gang had extortion, filming, and money laundering teams. It collected funds through payment QR codes and third-party payment platforms, with the platforms then settling with the money laundering team using cryptocurrency to obscure fund flows.

Within two months, the gang committed 268 crimes across 5 provinces and 22 cities, including Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Anhui. The case-related amount exceeded 800,000 yuan. Police have arrested 23 suspects and seized, impounded, and froze more than 2 million yuan of case-related assets.

Source: 深潮 TechFlow