參與毒品交易的幫派創造了自己的加密貨幣來洗錢骯髒的錢

長期以來，有組織的罪犯已經利用了像比特幣和以太坊這樣的主流加密貨幣的相對匿名，以掩蓋非法資金的起源。

A British street gang has begun making their own cryptocurrency in an effort to launder money from drug dealing, an expert has claimed.

一位專家聲稱，英國街頭幫派已經開始製造自己的加密貨幣，以從毒品交易中洗錢。

The plot, which is currently active, bears a passing resemblance to OneCoin - a fake cryptocurrency launched in Germany that turned out to be a giant Ponzi scheme.

目前活躍的該地塊與Onecoin具有相似之處，Onecoin是一個在德國發起的假加密貨幣，原來是一個巨大的龐氏騙局。

However, this is thought to be the first time experts have observed the launch of a genuine digital coin by a British street gang.

但是，這被認為是專家第一次觀察到英國街頭幫派推出了真正的數字硬幣。

Drug crime expert Gary Carroll learned of the scheme through sources but was unable to name the coin or the gang to protect their identity.

毒品犯罪專家加里·卡洛爾（Gary Carroll）通過消息來源了解了該計劃，但無法命名硬幣或幫派來保護其身份。

The expert witness, who spent 14 years in policing, described it as a "meme coin", which is designed to go viral on social media and rapidly rise in price.

這位專家目擊者花了14年的時間進行警務，他將其描述為“模因硬幣”，旨在在社交媒體上傳播並迅速上漲。

He said the gang hoped to wait for the coin to become more valuable before suddenly selling out as part of a "pump and dump" strategy.

他說，該團伙希望等待硬幣變得更有價值，然後突然賣掉作為“泵和垃圾場”策略的一部分。

"Criminals have been using crypto to launder money for at least 15 years now," Mr Carroll told MailOnline.

卡洛爾對MailOnline表示：“犯罪分子已經使用加密貨幣去洗錢至少15年了。”

"But developing a meme coin is one step further than simply buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum and suggests the process is becoming easier.

“但是，開發模因硬幣比僅僅購買比特幣和以太坊這樣的加密貨幣要遠一點，這表明該過程變得更加容易。

"They are using illicit money to pay developers to create a legitimate coin and then launch it onto the market. They are hoping to get the coin onto popular wallets and for the public to fall on it and turn it into the next Dogecoin.

“他們正在利用非法資金向開發商支付合法的硬幣，然後將其推向市場。他們希望將硬幣帶入受歡迎的錢包，並讓公眾落在它上並將其變成下一個Dogecoin。

"This is essentially a pyramid scheme and relies on multi-level marketing and loads of people buying in.

“這本質上是一個金字塔計劃，依賴於多層次的營銷和大量購買的人。

"Even if the coin only rises by a small amount they could still make a lot of money before selling out. The those profits will appear to be from crypto entrepreneurship rather than drugs."

“即使硬幣僅增加了少量，他們在賣出之前仍然可以賺很多錢。這些利潤似乎來自加密企業家，而不是毒品。”

Mr Carroll described the gang behind the coin as "mid-level" operators who made money through extortion, fraud, drug supply and the sale of counterfeit goods and cigarettes.

卡洛爾先生將硬幣背後的團伙描述為“中層”運營商，他們是通過勒索，欺詐，毒品供應以及偽造商品和香煙的出售而賺錢的。

He added the plot, which is currently active, bears a passing resemblance to OneCoin, a fake cryptocurrency founded by Bulgarian-born German entrepreneur Ruja Ignatova.

他添加了目前活躍的情節，與Onecoin具有相似之處，Onecoin是由保加利亞出生的德國企業家Ruja Ignatova創立的假加密貨幣。

OneCoin was founded in 2014 and was advertised as "the Bitcoin killer"

Onecoin成立於2014年，被宣傳為“比特幣殺手”

"They are based in England but they've got connections to other countries," he said.

他說：“他們在英國，但與其他國家有聯繫。”

"They're not a household name - but they've got enough to throw in a few hundred grand and get the coin off the ground.

“他們不是家喻戶曉的名字 - 但是他們有足夠的錢可以投入數百個大grand，並把硬幣扔下了地面。

"There are lots of meme coins out there that do absolutely nothing but have huge uptakes, so the potential rewards are astronomical."

“那裡有很多模因硬幣，除了具有巨大的吸引力外，什麼都不做，因此潛在的獎勵是天文學的。”

Mr Carroll has completed more than 1000 expert reports over nine years and given evidence to multiple crown court cases, giving him a deep understanding of the rapidly evolving nature of UK and international drug crime.

卡洛爾先生在九年中完成了1000多個專家報告，並向多個皇家法院案件提供了證據，使他對英國和國際毒品犯罪的迅速發展的性質有深刻的了解。

He believes the relative ease of creating meme coins suggested it could become a popular method for gangs looking to launder money and turn a quick profit.

他認為，製作模因硬幣的相對簡化表明，它可能成為希望洗錢并快速獲利的幫派的一種流行方法。

"It's just one step further than urban street gangs investing in crypto - why invest in the coin when they can just start one themselves?"

“這比城市街頭幫派投資加密貨幣僅一步 - 為什麼當硬幣可以自己開始時投資呢？”

"In one or maybe two years time there will be cases in court, I'm confident about that. But there are no examples of this happening in the UK.

“在法庭上會有一年或兩年的時間，我對此有信心。但是在英國沒有發生這種情況的例子。

"Criminals, especially drug dealers, aren't known for their patience. So they are wanting to do something that makes money as quickly as possible.

“犯罪分子，尤其是毒販，並不以其耐心而聞名。因此，他們想做一些能盡快賺錢的事情。

"My own opinion is this will become more common. It's a way to semi-legitimise their trade."

“我自己的看法是，這將變得越來越普遍。這是一種半合法化其貿易的方式。”

Ekaterina Zhdanova, a Russian businesswoman who used crypto to help gangs launder money

Ekaterina Zhdanova是一位俄羅斯女商人，他使用加密貨幣來幫助幫派洗錢

OneCoin remains the largest crypto-related scam to date, with investors losing £100m in the UK alone.

Onecoin仍然是迄今為止與加密貨幣相關的最大騙局，僅英國就損失了1億英鎊。

It was launched in 2014 by German-Bulgarian businesswoman Dr Ruja Ignatova, who described OneCoin as "the Bitcoin killer" while addressing an adoring crowd at Wembley Arena.

它是由德國 - 兼商業女商人Ruja Ignatova博士於2014年推出的，後者將Onecoin描述為“比特幣殺手”，同時在溫布利體育館（Wembley Arena）講話。

Between August 2014 and March 2017, more than €4bn (£3.4bn) was invested by devotees in dozens of countries before Dr Ruja suddenly disappeared in October 2017.

在2014年8月至2017年3月之間，在Ruja博士在2017年10月突然消失之前，奉獻者投資了數十個國家超過40億歐元（34億英鎊）。

It later emerged OneCoin was not a real cryptocurrency but a pyramid scheme hosted on its parent company's servers.

後來，它出現了Onecoin並不是真正的加密貨幣，而是在其母公司服務器上託管的金字塔計劃。

The FBI is now offering a $5m bounty who can help track down Dr Ruja, despite rumours she has been murdered at the orders of a Bulgarian mafia boss.

聯邦調查局（FBI）現在提供了一個耗資500萬美元的賞金，儘管有傳言稱她是在保加利亞黑手黨老闆的命令中被謀殺的，但她可以幫助追踪魯哈博士。

Mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are regularly used by criminals to launder cash or move large sums across borders without having to resort to traditional banking methods.

犯罪分子經常使用像比特幣這樣的主流加密貨幣來洗錢或在邊界跨越大量款項，而不必訴諸傳統的銀行業方法。

This is often done through highly organised networks that operate across multiple countries and have a wide variety of different criminal clients.

這通常是通過高度有條理的網絡來完成的，這些網絡在多個國家 /地區運作，並擁有各種不同的犯罪客戶。

One system recently exposed by police was run by Russian-speaking hackers and consisted of two networks called Smart and TGR.

警方最近暴露的一種系統由講俄語的黑客運營，由兩個名為Smart and Tgr的網絡組成。

Ms Zhdanova graced the covers of multiple business magazines during a career in financial services

Zhdanova女士在金融服務職業期間為多個商業雜誌的封面增添了豐厚的封面

Police say Smart and TGR used their global reach to launder money for crime groups including the Kinahans,

警方說，Smart和TGR利用他們的全球範圍為包括Kinahans，包括Kinahans的犯罪團體洗錢的錢