Scammed when transferring to U: How to recover USDT worth 40 million?

(picture from the Internet)

Introduction:

I received a consultation from a friend two days ago, saying that he transferred USDT equivalent to about 40 million yuan to a certain u However, the other party did not transfer the money and has lost contact with me now. He asked me what should I do. In fact, among the cases that the author has come into contact with, this kind of situation is a very common type, so I will give a centralized answer here.

Basic facts of the case

The client, Mr. Wang, wants to take his Because the amount of funds involved was relatively large, Mr. Wang asked his friend Xiao Zhao to find a reliable U merchant, and Xiao Zhao found Xiao Z, a U merchant he often cooperates with. After Xiao z gave Xiao Zhao the currency transfer address, Mr. Wang u’s payment chain is as follows: (Note: In order to protect customer privacy, the case information has been desensitized, this article is purely for theoretical discussion) p>

Mr. Wang (the financial owner himself)→Xiao Zhao (collection and payment)→Xiao Z (U business)→x→y

 Xiao Zhao has been cooperating with Xiao Z in recent years. The amount of funds traded between the two parties is tens of millions. Therefore, as netizens who have never met each other for many years, the two parties have a strong relationship of trust. After Mr. Wang found Xiao Zhao this time, Xiao Zhao couldn't help but transfer the received U from Mr. Wang to the address provided by Xiao Z.

 A few days later, Xiao Zhao saw that Xiao Z was still silent and couldn't sit still. He asked Xiao Z: What's going on? Isn't it the same as before, after deducting your handling fee, you can quickly remit the RMB to my account? Where is my sponsor waiting? Little Z went to ask his intermediary It takes half a year, and a handling fee of 15 points is required."

 Two weeks have passed...

 A month has passed...

 The u involved in the case is like a stone sinking into the sea, with no news. After Xiao Z communicated and negotiated with Mr. Wang and Xiao Zhao Lun, the quarrel was very unpleasant and they lost contact later. Mr. Wang couldn't sit still.

What should Mr. Wang do?

Last weekend night, after Mr. Wang contacted me, he asked anxiously what should I do now?

After reading Mr. Wang’s narration and reading the communication records of the parties, the above basic facts were clarified.

 Although Mr. Wang is very anxious, I still tell him not to worry.

 1. Where do so many u’s come from?

From the customer's perspective, it is normal to want to know how to deal with these guys who are running away with money. But from the perspective of a professional criminal lawyer who has been practicing for many years, what I am more concerned about is, where does the client's money come from? ——This is the premise for all the problems to be solved in the future. The main reason is that it is necessary to determine whether the client himself is at risk of criminal involvement.

 After all, the author has handled many cases in which rights defenders tried to get themselves involved (again: it has nothing to do with me, I am accepting We only found out why the client went in after we met him at the detention center. However, in some cases, the identity of the victim and the suspect can indeed be switched very subtly...) This is a long story, so let's return to it. Get to the point.

 Because both Mr. Wang and Xiao Zhao have lived overseas for a long time, when the customer described this matter, I have been worried about whether the source of customer U is legitimate? Is there any risk of being suspected of illegal operations by buying and selling foreign exchange in disguised form? (You can refer to the author's previous articles: "One article review: Providing an account to help people transfer money, possible crimes", "Caught buying and selling USDT Tether currency to make a profit, how to do a good criminal defense? - Illegal business crimes involving criminal risks for OTC merchants" (2)》), but upon inquiry, we learned that the transferred Us were all earned from digital currency quantitative transactions, and that Mr. Wang transferred them to Xiao Zhao, and Xiao Zhao transferred them to Xiao Z, which is normal. Therefore, it is preliminary judged that the source of U involved in the case is clean, and there is only one-way over-the-counter transaction between U and RMB, and does not involve disguised buying and selling of foreign exchange.

 Thus, Mr. Wang’s own criminal risk can be eliminated.

 2. How to safeguard rights?

The first step is, who is the responsible person?

All the information obtained by Mr. Wang and Xiao Zhao was conveyed through Xiao z. Whether x and y exist is currently unknown, as is the currency transfer address. Provided by Xiaoz. As a USDT acceptor, Xiaoz charges handling fees and has interests in this case. Currently out of contact.

Therefore, Xiao Z’s behavior is consistent with the characteristics of fabricating facts or concealing the truth to defraud others’ property under the criminal law, and is suspected of constituting the crime of fraud. If x and y exist, and the two refuse to pay without justifiable reasons, it constitutes a joint crime of fraud.

 The second step, which method should be used to protect rights? Civil prosecution or criminal complaint?

Mr. Wang and Xiao Zhao considered that they did not want to make the matter too big (mainly due to the large amount of funds and concerns about their own risks) , is it possible to adopt civil means to safeguard rights and hold Xiao Z accountable for unjust enrichment?

It’s actually difficult.

 According to legal provisions, unjust enrichment means: the actor obtains undue benefits without legal basis. Therefore, in practice, even if the two parties have not signed a relevant contract, as long as the court finds out that the transaction between the two parties has a certain reason and background, it will reject the plaintiff's claim (in other words, unless it is an erroneous transfer without reason, it will comply with the legal concept) "unjust enrichment" in this case). In this case, Xiao Zhao and Xiao Z have cooperated many times. Every time Xiao Zhao transferred money, it was remitted to the address involved in the case provided by Xiao Z. In the transaction between the two parties, in order to obtain legal currency, Xiao Zhao In order for Xiao Z to obtain the handling fee, the transactions between the two parties are not without any basis.

"Civil Code of the People's Republic of China"

Article 985 Benefit If a person obtains improper benefits without legal basis, the person who suffered losses may request the beneficiary to return the benefits.  

The third step, how to choose the jurisdiction of the case?

Therefore, this case can only take the form of criminal prosecution. So the next question is, where can I file a lawsuit to defend my rights?

 According to the customer's description, Xiao Z is in China, and according to Xiao Z, x and y are also in China. However, the contents mentioned by x and y are all reported by Xiao Z, and the authenticity is unknown. Therefore, according to our country's legal regulations and the clues that customers can currently provide, it is most convenient to take into account Xiao Z's place of residence to report the crime.

Regulations on the procedures for handling criminal cases by public security organs (revised in 2020)

Article 15 Criminal The case is under the jurisdiction of the public security agency at the place where the crime was committed. If it is more appropriate to have the jurisdiction of the public security organ of the place where the criminal suspect lives, it can be under the jurisdiction of the public security organ of the place where the criminal suspect lives.

Article 16 The place of crime includes the place where the criminal act occurs and the place where the result of the crime occurs. The place where the crime occurred.

After the above analysis, Mr. Wang finally has a general idea in mind, but the road to rights protection is long, and there is still a long way to go.

Criminal Lawyer Tips:

OTC trading is simple The express fee is low, but the transaction is opaque and the risk is extremely high. Under the current policy background, there is a risk that such transactions will be deemed invalid in judicial practice, but it is still recommended to sign a contract with the counterparty and retain the other party’s identity information to facilitate future rights protection.