Svmuu News: The Intermediate People’s Court of Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, issued a second-instance ruling upholding the original verdict in the case of Ma Mou, who was charged with the crime of illegal business operations. This is one of a series of cases involving the Sifang Payment Platform providing payment and settlement services for gambling platforms; in this case, some of the defendants were accused of receiving commissions or rebates in the form of virtual currencies such as USDT. According to the investigation, between May 24, 2022, and October 18, 2023, Ma and four others collected and disbursed illicit funds through third-party payment accounts, using settlement methods such as receiving USDT via virtual wallets and accepting payments via bank cards. Through 105 merchant accounts across 10 third-party payment companies, the total settlement amount exceeded 2.95 billion yuan.
The court ultimately found Ma guilty of the crime of illegal business operations and sentenced him to four years and six months in prison, along with a fine of 3 million RMB. The five other individuals, who were apprehended in succession, were also convicted by the court of the crime of illegal business operations and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to six years. (The Paper)