Binance has teamed up with Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the Taipei District Prosecutors Office to solve a significant case involving cryptocurrency-assisted money laundering.
The investigation centered around illicit funds amounting to nearly NT$200 million, equivalent to approximately $6 million, the exchange said in a press release shared with CryptoNews.
Per the announcement, Binance’s cooperation, leveraging its Financial Crimes Compliance (FCC) Department’s expertise and intelligence sharing, played a key role in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Money Laundering for a Long Period
The criminal operation had been facilitating money laundering for scam groups using virtual assets for an extended period.
The perpetrators employed various tactics, including fabricating customer conversation records, remittance proofs, and falsified identity verification data, to create the illusion of legitimate transactions.
However, their activities did not go unnoticed, and law enforcement authorities eventually caught up with them.
The police traced and monitored several suspicious cryptocurrency transactions and sought relevant information from various parties, including Binance.
“Upon receiving the request, Binance responded swiftly and set up a cross-border online meeting with the investigating officers and prosecutors to discuss the collaborative strategy,” the exchange wrote.
“Binance’s experienced FCC teams provided insights and recommendations based on crypto flow analyses, thereby helping to narrow down the circle of potential suspects more effectively.”
Prosecutor Lo Wei-Yuan from the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, who oversaw the case, subsequently filed indictments against nine suspects on charges of aggravated fraud, violation of the Money Laundering Control Act, and breach of organized crime prevention regulations last month.
Expressing gratitude for Binance’s cooperation, Prosecutor Lo Wei-Yuan said Binance has “active and ongoing collaboration with Taiwan’s law enforcement agencies.”
Damien Ho, a representative of Binance’s Asia-Pacific (APAC) team, said Binance is committed to combatting financial crime and protecting the integrity of the Web3 ecosystem.
“We will continue to uphold this goal and deepen our cooperation with global law enforcement agencies.”
Binance Eyes Global Expansion
Last week, the Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND) revealed that Binance has successfully registered with the regulatory body, returning to the country after some regulatory hurdles.
Prior to that, the exchange announced that it had obtained a license from Dubai’s regulator, VARA, enabling the platform to cater to retail clients along with qualified and institutional ones.
According to Bloomberg, the licensing process involved Binance’s founder and former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, relinquishing voting control of the Dubai unit.
Furthermore, earlier this year, Binance unveiled its joint venture crypto exchange Binance Thailand, which comes in collaboration with Gulf Innova, a subsidiary of Gulf Energy Development.
Binance Thailand, abbreviated as Binance TH, provides a platform for digital asset exchange services with Thai baht trading pairs.
It is worth noting that Binance has faced increasing regulatory scrutiny worldwide.
Last year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed charges against Binance for allegedly operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange and evading federal laws.
Similarly, the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged Binance Holdings LTD and ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for allegedly operating unregistered exchanges, broker exchanges, clearing houses, and the unregistered offer and sale of securities.
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