How Binance helped Thailand dismantle a crypto crime ring

• Binance’s Investigations team aided Thailand Police in apprehending crypto scammers.
• Binance said it has assisted in over 103,000 similar requests in the last three years.

The world’s largest exchange, Binance [BNB], reportedly collaborated with Thailand law enforcement officials in cracking down on criminal mafias that used cryptos to move funds.

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Binance turns investigator

As per a blog post published on 3 October, Binance’s Investigations team aided the Royal Thai Police in two operations, culminating in the arrest of major participants and the confiscation of assets.

Notably, the first case involved a joint operation by Binance, Royal Thai Police, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) to capture those responsible for “pig butchering” scams.

The modus operandi of the group involved cultivating trust with inexperienced investors and luring them into depositing funds into fraudulent investment platforms.

The scammers would then exhibit bogus earnings on the initial investments to entice customers to deposit more assets, only to make off with all the money in the end.

Binance and HSI provided valuable intelligence to the Thailand Police, using which five key members of the crime syndicate were arrested. Moreover, assets worth $277 million were seized, which included luxury cars and real estate.

Binance was also instrumental in exposing another large crypto scam involving transnational criminal organizations. Apart from supplying intelligence, Binance stated that it sent one of its officials to Thailand to assist with the inquiry.

The operation led to a massive crackdown across different cities of the country. Eventually, luxury houses, high-end vehicles, and $440,000 in cash were recovered by the sleuths.

Binance also claimed to have assisted in over 103,000 similar requests from across the globe in the last three years.

Binance continues to be in legal soup

Despite the above endeavors by Binance, the exchange and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), have faced an onslaught of legal problems in 2023. Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the exchange over the violation of U.S. securities laws.

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In the latest development, a class-action suit was filed against its American arm, Binance.US and CZ, over allegations of deliberately harming its competitor, FTX, which went bankrupt last year.

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange with a 24-hour trading volume in excess of $5 billion, per CoinGecko. Any risks to its stability could have major consequences for the cryptocurrency market as a whole.