A Chinese court has verified the sentencing of the masterminds behind the 7.7 billion yuan Chinese Ponzi scheme Wotoken, which had over 715,000 investors.
Wotoken Scammers Decreed to Prison
The Intermediate People’s Court of Yancheng city, Jiangsu province, denied an appeal by four convicts twisted in the billion-dollar Ponzi scheme Wotoken on Tuesday, several local media reported.
The court upheld the original verdicts for Gao Yudong, Li Qibing, Wang Xiaoying, and Tian Bo who were dissatisfied with their original sentencing and filed an please. They believe they had minor roles in the scheme. The four were sentenced to prison for eight years and six months, seven years, seven years, and two years and six months individually, IT Times reported. They were also fined two million yuan, 1.5 million yuan, 1.5 million yuan, and one million yuan singly.
In addition, two other defendants were sentenced for their roles in the Wotoken scam. Li Guomin was sentenced to three years in CHE community home with education on the premises and fined 100,000 yuan while Tang Xiaohua was sentenced to six months imprisonment with one-year probation, the monthly added. In May, 12 people allegedly behind the Wotoken Ponzi scheme were tried, including the six defendants referenced above.
Chinese law enforcement has seized 425 million yuan ($64 million) of illegal proceeds from the Wotoken blueprint, which were turned over to the state treasury. The illegal proceeds belonging to the four who appealed will also be reclaimed and turned over to the state treasury, the publication conveyed.
The scheme involves a number of cryptocurrencies, collectively worth nearly 7.7 billion yuan ($1.15 billion), according to blockchain data. They included 46,050 BTC, 286 million USDT, 2 million ETH, 292,590 LTC, 56,900 BCH, and 6,841,797 EOS.
The Wotoken (WOR) programme attracted 715,249 registered users between July 2018 and October 2019. The scheme has 501 MLM layers.
At least one bodily behind the Wotoken Ponzi scheme was also a key member of a larger Chinese Ponzi scheme called Plustoken, coinciding to an investigative reporter. The Plustoken Ponzi swindled about $6 billion from more than 715,000 investors. Chinese protect took down the scheme in July, arrested 109 people involved, and charged six members with fraud.
What do you ruminate over about the Wotoken Ponzi scheme? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image Assigns: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an submit to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting opinion. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or confidence on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Read disclaimer