DOJ Cracks Down on Chinese-Run Scam Compounds
US authorities have taken down 13 alleged Chinese-run scam compounds in Madagascar and seized $52 million in cryptocurrency, according to the Department of Justice. The scammers operated through an online marketplace called Xinbi Guarantee that used the messaging app Telegram to defraud Americans and launder money.
The platform sold tools for industrial fraud, allowing vendors to create fake websites designed to look like real investment firms. It also facilitated the solicitation of victims for forced labor in scam compounds, which are often located in Southeast Asia but have hubs in other regions as well.
DOJ's U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro described this as an 'industrial extraction of American savings run by Chinese transnational criminal enterprises and platforms.' The operation was the result of a strike force launched in November to combat transnational scam enterprises that target Americans for large sums of money.