Taiwan’s Shilin District Court has sentenced Shi Qiren, identified as the ringleader in the Bitshine Technology case, to 22 years in prison in a first-instance ruling over a fraud-linked money laundering operation that used USDT. The court said on July 16, 2026 that Shi was guilty of illegally providing virtual asset services, aggravated fraud, and money laundering, and ordered the confiscation of NT$43,718,505 in criminal proceeds.
Bitshine was used to build a 45-store network across Taiwan
According to a report cited from United Daily News, Shi had been the Taiwan market head for offshore virtual asset exchange CoinW. After CoinW failed to complete anti-money laundering reporting with Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission, Shi bought Bitshine using USDT worth NT$19.2 million, or about 613,223 USDT, and used the company as a shell carrying an anti-money laundering declaration filed with the regulator.
Shi then expanded the business through what was described as a “VASP business brand franchise” model, recruiting operators across Taiwan and opening 45 physical stores. The network at one point became the largest crypto dealer chain in Taiwan by scale. The report said each franchisee had to pay franchise fees amounting to several million New Taiwan dollars, along with operating security deposits ranging from NT$500,000 to NT$1 million to a partner company, Baida Information Consultant. Bitshine publicly claimed it had authorization from the FSC, but investigators said the outlets were in fact used as laundering shops for fraud syndicates.
Cash was converted into USDT and sent to wallets designated by fraud groups
Investigators said the laundering model relied on turning cash into USDT and then breaking the traceable flow of funds. Shi brought in a man surnamed Wang to handle what the report described as “minting coins and collecting cash,” and installed cash deposit machines at the stores that were managed by a security company. Cash deposited by victims was transferred by the security firm into bank accounts, converted through foreign exchange, used to purchase USDT, and then moved to wallets specified by fraud groups.
Once the crypto entered exchanges and was routed into wallets, police said the trail became much harder to follow, creating a break point in the money flow.
Investigators said more than NT$2.3 billion was handled from early 2024 to April 2025
Prosecutors and police said the group handled more than NT$2.3 billion in laundering volume between early 2024 and April 2025. A total of 1,539 people filed reports, and the total amount tied to fraud reached more than NT$1.275 billion.
In April of the previous year, the Criminal Investigation Bureau searched 45 stores and seven residences across Taiwan. Authorities seized more than 640,000 USDT, NT$60.49 million in cash, and assets including a Ferrari sports car and a Maserati SUV.
Court described a “fake compliance” setup built around KYC procedures
The report said Shi also built what it called a “fake compliance” structure to evade legal scrutiny. He recruited an unwitting compliance chief and risk-control manager to design know-your-customer, or KYC, procedures that gave the business an outward appearance of legitimacy. At the same time, he allegedly coached fraud group members in advance on how to pass verification questions so victims could complete crypto purchases without obstruction.
Shi was also said to have deliberately kept records of certain rejected customers, a practice described as “letting the big ones through while stopping the small ones,” so the company could later claim it had internal compliance checks. On gang ties, the report said Shi had links to the Tiandaomeng Zhengyi Association, that a relative was also a Tiandaomeng figure, and that the fraud resources he contacted involved groups with backgrounds tied to the Bamboo Union and Tiandaomeng. The operation was also promoted in social channels through crypto KOLs, according to the report.
Prosecutors sought 25 years; the first-instance court imposed 22 years
The Shilin District Prosecutors Office indicted Shi and 14 others in August 2025 on charges including aggravated fraud, money laundering, organized crime, and providing virtual asset services without registration, and sought a 25-year sentence for Shi. In June this year, Shi was released on NT$20 million bail, subject to residence restrictions, an eight-month ban on leaving the country or traveling by sea, and electronic monitoring, replacing detention during trial.
After hearing the case, the Shilin District Court panel said Shi disregarded the law, actively brought fraud-group resources into the operation, and caused large numbers of people to suffer losses, making the harm especially serious. The court also said Shi admitted only part of the money laundering conduct in court, fully denied key aggravated fraud charges, and had not compensated any victims.
The court ultimately convicted Shi on one count of illegally providing virtual asset services and 485 counts of aggravated fraud and money laundering, combining them into a 22-year prison sentence. It also ordered confiscation of NT$43,718,505 in criminal proceeds. Of that amount, NT$42 million was calculated from franchise fees using NT$1 million per store, while a further NT$1.71 million-plus was counted as profit from fraud-related laundering. The case can still be appealed.
Some claims involving 1,059 complainants resulted in acquittals
The court also acquitted part of the case involving 1,059 complainants. The reasons included having only a single victim statement, lack of proof that the complainant had gone to Bitshine under instruction from a fraud group, cases where the complainant had found the business independently or through friends and relatives, and situations where a property loss could not be confirmed.