Scammed out of 900,000 yuan in online dating? Changhua female gang laundered 1.33 million yuan in fraud, sentenced to 3 years in prison for 15 crimes

A woman surnamed Yao from Changhua County met a male netizen through IG. The two had never met. However, Yao believed in the other person and loaned him more than 900,000 yuan to buy virtual currencies. She even provided an account to the man to buy and sell Tether coins to earn handling fees. Unexpectedly, she turned into a money laundering tool for a fraudulent group, causing 15 people to be defrauded out of 1.33 million yuan. After being arrested, Yao Nu argued that she was also a victim of love fraud, but the judge did not accept her belief and sentenced her on 15 counts of money laundering. The sentence totaled 10 years and 10 months. In the end, she was sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined 150,000 yuan.

The verdict pointed out that Ms. Yao met a man surnamed Lin who claimed to be Chinese through IG during the holidays last year. The two parties had never met or had a video call, but she was still very moved. Lin Nan claimed that he could master investment data in advance and obtain high rewards. Yao Nu believed him and used loans and credit cards to exchange for cash, investing more than 900,000 yuan in virtual currencies. Soon Lin Nan claimed that he had made a profit of 4 million or 5 million yuan from his investment, but due to system abnormalities, he had to pay a margin before he could withdraw the money. Since Yao Nu couldn't take any more money, Lin Nan suggested that Yao Nu should earn handling fees by purchasing virtual currencies for her friends.

In September of the same year, Ms. Yao provided two accounts at Hua Nan Bank and Land Bank, and then followed the instructions of Mr. Lin to purchase TEDA coins and then transfer them to the designated electronic wallet. The fraud group used social platforms such as TikTok and IG to deceive 15 people with investment futures, virtual currency and other techniques. Among them, the princess lost the most, 342,000 yuan.

After her arrest, Ms. Yao argued that she was trapped in a relationship trap and was taken advantage of by her boyfriend because she was eager to get back investment profits. She had no criminal intent. The defense lawyer also emphasized that the account she provided was a salary and labor relief loan account. If she knew it was a fraud, how could she risk having her account frozen?

The judge believed that Yao Nu, who graduated from university and had work experience, had never met the other party, but believed that investing more than 900,000 yuan could make millions of dollars, which was obviously contrary to common sense. Moreover, she did not check the transaction information, but collected money and transferred money for strangers. She had foreseen that fraud might be involved, and she still had a lucky mentality.

The judge emphasized that emotional fraud and money laundering are not mutually exclusive. Even the victim is still responsible for assisting the fraud group in laundering money. In the end, according to 15 general money laundering crimes, he should be sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined 150,000 yuan.