Shandong Police Bust Cross-Province Online Extortion Ring; Funds Laundered in Crypto via Payment Agent Platforms

Nov. 11: According to Dazhong Daily, police in Dezhou, Shandong Province, have busted a cross-provincial online extortion case. The gang impersonated environmental inspection officials and journalists, used drones to film livestock farms and posted negative videos, inducing farmers to pay to have the posts removed. The gang collected funds through payment QR codes and third-party payment agent platforms, which then settled with money-laundering groups in crypto. Police said the gang committed 268 offenses in 22 cities across five provinces—Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Jiangsu and Anhui—within two months, involving more than 800,000 yuan. A total of 23 people have been arrested, and more than 2 million yuan in involved assets has been sealed, seized and frozen.