China News Service, Beijing, July 30 (Reporter Zhang Ziyang) Recently, in accordance with the unified command and deployment of the Ministry of Public Security, the public security organs opened a case to investigate the "Plus Token platform" network pyramid scheme, and successively absconded all 27 major criminal suspects abroad and the case 82 key members were arrested and brought to justice, completely destroying this huge multinational network MLM organization entrenched at home and abroad. This case is the first online pyramid scheme that used Bitcoin and other digital currencies as a trading medium to be detected by the public security organs. It involved more than 2 million participants, with more than 3,000 hierarchical relationships, and the total value of digital currencies involved exceeded 40 billion yuan.
At the beginning of 2019, when the public security organs in Yancheng, Jiangsu found that Chen and others were suspected of using virtual currency trading platforms to organize and lead MLM crimes, they immediately set up a task force to solve the problem and report the case to the Ministry of Public Security. Under the guidance of the Economic Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, the task force gave full play to the effectiveness of economic investigation informatization, conducted in-depth research, judgment and analysis of the case, and initially found out the organizational structure, personnel level, and capital flow of the MLM group. In June of the same year, under the coordination and organization of the Ministry of Public Security, the police of the task force went to Vanuatu, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries and regions to strengthen police law enforcement cooperation, and actively cooperated with the local police to successfully hide 27 major criminal suspects abroad. Caught and brought to justice. In March 2020, the Ministry of Public Security deployed public security organs across the country to launch a cluster campaign and captured all 82 key members suspected of pyramid schemes.
After investigation, in May 2018, the suspect Chen and others began to engage in Internet MLM crimes by setting up a "Plus Token platform" and developing related applications. The platform uses blockchain technology as a gimmick and Bitcoin and other digital currencies as a transaction medium. Under the guise of providing digital currency value-added services, it promises high rebates and attracts the participation of the general public. The platform consists of a technical team, a marketing team, a customer service team, and a coin transfer team, which are responsible for technical operation and maintenance, publicity and promotion, consultation and reply, and review and withdrawal of coins. Participants can obtain membership through online recommendation and pay more than US$500 worth of digital currency as the "threshold fee". Members will receive the platform's own "Plus" coin based on the value of the paid digital currency, and form the online and offline according to the order of joining And hierarchical relationships. According to the number of offline development and the amount of funds invested, the platform divides members into five levels: member, big family, big coffee, great god, and creation, and distributes the corresponding number of "Plus" coins as rewards and rebates according to the level.
In order to attract more people to participate, the criminal gang used the Internet to publicize platform access methods, operating models, bonus systems, profit prospects, etc., and hired foreigners to pretend to be platform founders to package and forge its so-called "international platform" and "foreign projects" Background, by organizing meetings, concerts, tourism and other offline activities from time to time to promote platform promotion, and even spending a lot of money to hold thousands of people overseas promotion conferences. According to statistics, during the period of the platform’s existence, the platform has developed more than 2 million members, with more than 3,000 hierarchical relationships. It has collected millions of digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum from members, and the amount involved is more than 40 billion yuan. According to the calculation of market quotations at the time of development), most of the digital currency is used to issue member "pull head" rewards, and some are cashed out for daily expenses and personal squandering of Chen and others.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Public Security stated that in recent years, the criminal methods of pyramid schemes have been continuously renovated, and the concealment and deceptiveness have continued to increase. The public security organs will actively adapt to the new characteristics and changes of such criminal situations, further innovate ideas and improve capabilities, and always maintain the protection of pyramid schemes. Severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities and continue to carry out source control and comprehensive management in conjunction with relevant departments to effectively maintain the normal economic management order of the country and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people. At the same time, the public security organs reminded the general public that participating in MLM activities will not only cause property losses, but may also be suspected of illegal crimes. Do not believe in the high-yield, high-return "investment" trap. (Finish)