TechFlow news, on January 3, according to Xiamen Evening News, a man who suffered losses while investing in futures for a friend resorted to stealing cryptocurrency from another person and cashing out over 1.6 million yuan. Recently, the Huli District People's Procuratorate of Xiamen, China, reviewed and prosecuted this theft case.
In September 2021, defendant Chen met victim Hong through a friend. At that time, Hong was highly interested in cryptocurrency investment, and since Chen had some experience in this area, Hong entrusted Chen to manage his cryptocurrency investments, even providing his account and login password.
In June 2022, Chen incurred losses while investing in futures for a friend, leaving him with substantial debt. He then conceived the idea of stealing cryptocurrencies from Hong’s account.
By the end of September 2022, Chen fabricated a story about the account disconnecting, using it as an excuse to obtain various verification codes from Hong. He successfully changed the account’s login password and replaced the linked email address with his own. From that point onward, Chen gained full control over Hong’s account.
Thereafter, Chen repeatedly used the excuse of account disconnection to trick Hong into providing real-time verification codes, transferring Hong’s cryptocurrencies into his own accounts multiple times. He quickly sold the stolen cryptocurrencies, profiting more than 1.6 million yuan, which he entirely used to repay his personal debts.
In May 2024, Chen voluntarily turned himself in to the police and truthfully confessed to his crimes.
The Huli District People's Procuratorate has lawfully filed public prosecution against Chen on charges of theft. According to Article 264 of the Criminal Law, those who steal public or private property with exceptionally large amounts or other particularly serious circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and may also be fined or have their property confiscated.
