China's Supreme People's Procuratorate has disclosed a USDT fraud case involving over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, with the procuratorial organ filing a public prosecution for fraud.

According to recent disclosures from China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate, a man surnamed Wang in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, aware that USDT transactions are illegal in China, resorted to fraudulent means to defraud others of USDT. Wang had previously purchased USDT from victim Xiao twice via cash, before gathering multiple accomplices to plot a scam: they pretended to buy USDT again, agreeing to a 1.2 million yuan cash deal. On the transaction day, after Xiao verified the cash, he transferred the equivalent USDT to Wang’s designated address. Wang and his group then lied that they had not received the USDT. While Xiao was checking the transfer record, the group threw the travel bag containing 1.2 million yuan in cash from a second-floor window; accomplices waiting below retrieved the bag and fled by car, while others blocked Xiao from giving chase. The procuratorial organ found that the 1.2 million yuan cash was always controlled by Wang’s group, serving only as a fraud tool rather than the object of robbery. Accordingly, it adjusted the charge from robbery (as determined by the public security organ when referring the case) to fraud, and filed a public prosecution with the court. The defense argued the case should be classified as contract fraud, but the prosecutor maintained that virtual currency transactions are illegal financial activities explicitly prohibited by the state, thus falling outside the scope of contract fraud regulations. The court hearing has concluded, and a verdict will be announced at a later date.