Tokyo authorities revealed a $237 million scam involving digital currencies. The scheme was discovered by the Tokyo Region Taxation authorities while they audited a Taito Ward company’s tax history. The agency found that the company had a cash flow of much more than 10 million yen despite reporting annual sales of only 10 million yen. Three years ago, three Chinese nationals sent 27 million yen in crypto to the Tokyo-based suspect company. This was to convert to Japanese yen. The now-floundering company decided to keep some of this money in its own pockets as a commission.
They were acting for a third party. They raised yuan from wealthy Chinese investors to buy a share in Japanese real property. This incident is a strong reason why the People’s Bank of China has banned crypto-related activities.
A previous post by an Asian finance watchdog about the current situation is here:
Tokyo discovered that three Chinese had sent money to Japan (around 230 million dollars) to buy real estate using cryptocurrency. Tokyo should work with China to crack down on fraudulent cryptocurrency transfers, according to a tax expert.
This latest scam is just one of many that have been sweeping the crypto industry. Increased regulation and scrutiny is needed for illicit activities using crypto.
