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January 15th news, according to the Financial Times report, a report released on Monday by the United Nations DUpin and the Crime Office warned that Tether, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency platforms, has become one of the main payment methods for money launderers and scammers in Southeast Asia. The report points out that Tether's stablecoin is at the core of an explosive fraudulent industry, including the "Pig Killing Plate" scam. The evolution of cryptocurrencies, along with other rapid technological developments, has also stimulated organized crime groups in Southeast Asia to use underground casinos for money laundering, a practice that has been in existence for decades. Online DB platforms, especially those illegally operating gambling platforms, have become one of the most popular tools for cryptocurrency-based money launderers, particularly for those using Tether.
Jeremy Douglas from the United Nations DUpin and the Crime Office stated, "Organized crime effectively uses new technology to create a parallel banking system, and the proliferation of loosely or completely unregulated online casinos, along with the surge in cryptocurrencies, has exacerbated the crime ecosystem in the region." The UN report indicates that in recent years, authorities have dismantled multiple money laundering networks responsible for transferring illegal Tether funds, including an operation in August last year by Singapore authorities, which recovered $737 million in cash and cryptocurrencies. The report states that in November of last year, after a joint investigation with US authorities and the cryptocurrency exchange OKX, Tether froze tokens worth $225 million related to Southeast Asian "Pig Killing" and human trafficking groups. Douglas said, "Cryptocurrency regulation lags far behind illegal activities or is almost nonexistent, and organized crime groups exploiting vulnerabilities and weaknesses to profit from it are well aware of this."
The report mentions that despite extensive law enforcement efforts in the United States and elsewhere against digital assets, criminal groups continue to use Tether's tokens as an effective method to transfer funds, to the extent that some casinos have begun to specialize in handling this token. Documents seen by the Financial Times show that a money laundering group operating in Shan State, Myanmar, and conducting business in Cambodia, even hung a banner on a busy street advertising Tether and promising to exchange "black money" tokens for cash. |
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Post time 24-1-2024 21:12:04