Imagine thinking you’ve found a promising investment app run by a friendly woman offering 15% returns, only to discover it was part of an elaborate scam run out of another country. That’s exactly what happened to tens of thousands of people across India with this crypto investment scam.
In a case that’s as global as it is grim, a Chinese court has sentenced nine people for running a crypto-linked scam that defrauded over 66,000 Indian citizens out of nearly ₹52 crore (around $6.2 million). The ringleader? A man known only by his surname “He,” who kicked things off in May 2023 from the city of Heze in Shandong province.
Nine individuals were sentenced to prison terms in China along with fines for involving in a telecommunication fraud scheme targeting Indian victims. The scam siphoned 517 million Indian rupees ($6.2 million) from 66,800 victims through fabricated investment platforms and… pic.twitter.com/9mtgJHKqKS
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 13, 2025
Their scam centered around a bogus investment app called SENEE. The twist? The scammers posed as wealthy Indian women online, think fake profiles, photos of designer handbags, and smooth-talking texts promising big monthly returns on small investments. Just ₹1,000 could supposedly earn you an 8–15% return. Too good to be true? Yep, and it was.
Once people started investing larger amounts, the app locked them out or converted their deposits into “equity” they couldn’t access. In other words, goodbye money.
Money Laundering via Cryptocurrency
And it didn’t stop at just collecting funds. The group knew how to move dirty money.
Once the victims were fleeced, the scammers laundered the funds through third-party services, then converted the cash into Tether (USDT), a popular stablecoin in crypto circles. From there, it was either cashed out in yuan or U.S. dollars. The fraudsters allegedly kept a 15% cut per transaction, not exactly subtle.
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Legal Proceedings and Sentencing
In court, the prosecution laid out just how organized the ring was. This wasn’t a casual side hustle but a full-on criminal operation with job roles, task assignments, and profit splits. Everyone had a part to play.
The result? Prison sentences range from 5 years to nearly 15, plus fines. The presiding judge, Liu Xilei, made it clear that China is not taking this lightly. He also encouraged anyone involved in similar fraud to turn themselves in before the law catches up.
This case isn’t just about a group of scammers. It’s a warning sign about how sophisticated international crypto fraud has become and how hard it is to stop when the victims and the perpetrators are in completely different countries.
In India, scams like this one have prompted government crackdowns. Efforts like the Sanchar Saathi initiative have already disconnected millions of suspicious mobile numbers and blacklisted dodgy devices. It’s a game of digital whack-a-mole, but it’s a start.
The fact that this crew was tracked down and convicted shows progress. But the global nature of crypto scams makes enforcement tough. For now, the best defense is education — and knowing that if something online looks too good to be true, it probably is.
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Key Takeaways
- A Chinese fraud ring was sentenced for running a $6.2M crypto scam that targeted over 66,800 Indian citizens through a fake investment app called SENEE.
- Scammers posed as wealthy Indian women online, offering 8–15% monthly returns to lure victims into depositing money.
- Funds were laundered through third-party services and converted into Tether (USDT), then withdrawn as yuan or U.S. dollars.
- The ringleader and eight others received prison sentences ranging from 5 to nearly 15 years, with additional fines imposed.
- The case highlights the rise of international crypto scams and the growing need for cross-border enforcement and digital literacy.
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