A pyramid scheme organization that used "blockchain" and "virtual currency" as gimmicks was prosecuted and sentenced, with the amount involved reaching more than 210 million yuan

Odaily News According to the official account of the Yunnan Provincial People's Procuratorate, the Shidian County Procuratorate recently filed a public prosecution against Li Moumou and 10 others for organizing and leading pyramid schemes. After trial by the court, Li Moumou and 10 other defendants were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from six years to two years for the crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes, and were fined between RMB 500,000 and RMB 100,000. Since May 2021, Li has successively gathered Huang, Jin and others to use "blockchain" and "virtual currency" as gimmicks to make illegal profits. They set up 5 fund pools on the network platform on the grounds of purchasing and holding virtual digital currency A and issuing virtual digital currency B and C. Through on-site meetings, WeChat groups and other offline and online methods, they created successful people's personalities, used special professional backgrounds, and used slogans such as "one coin for one luxury house, one coin for one luxury car" and "easily earn hundreds of thousands or millions a day" to promote the reward system and profit prospects, and deceived the masses to obtain membership qualifications by purchasing, destroying, adding fund pools, etc., and completed the tasks issued, and obtained static dividends and dynamic benefits based directly or indirectly on the number of people developed and the amount of investment, forming 5 rebate levels. It has been identified that the pyramid scheme funds collected by Li and others using the network platform totaled more than RMB 210 million. The Shidian County Procuratorate reviewed and believed that Li used virtual currency as a gimmick and colluded with the other nine defendants to use the Internet platform to defraud property and disrupt the economic and social order. The pyramid scheme funds totaled more than 210 million yuan, and the circumstances were serious. The actions of Li and the other ten people violated Article 224 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and constituted the crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes. After the court trial, the above judgment was made.