Odaily Planet Daily reports: An employee named Jia from a company in Pingshan District, Shenzhen, incurred debts from online loans and stole the company’s core R&D data, then impersonated an overseas hacker to send ransom emails demanding 0.88 BTC, 0.8 BTC, and 90,000 USDT as ransom. The company refused to pay and reported the incident to police. Jia was ultimately sentenced by the court to three years and three months in prison and fined 10,000 RMB for attempted extortion. During the trial, prosecutors determined that although Bitcoin and Tether are not legal tender, they constitute virtual assets with monetary value; the total value of the involved cryptocurrencies exceeded RMB 630,000 and could be used as the basis for determining the criminal amount.
Shenzhen employee sentenced to 3 years and 3 months for Bitcoin and USDT ransom scam
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Summary
A Shenzhen employee, Jia, was sentenced to three years and three months for a Bitcoin and USDT ransom scam. Jia stole R&D data and sent ransom emails demanding 0.88 BTC, 0.8 BTC, and 90,000 USDT. The company refused to pay and reported the incident. The court recognized BTC and USDT as virtual assets with property value, totaling over CNY 630,000. The case underscores how BTC is viewed as a hedge against inflation. Jia was also fined CNY 10,000 for attempted extortion. The ruling may influence liquidity and crypto markets as legal clarity improves in China.
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