According to The Paper (澎湃新闻), on June 26, the Intermediate People’s Court of Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued a second-instance judgment in the case of Ma, who was accused of illegal business operations, upholding the original verdict.

The case is part of a series of cases in which a fourth-party payment platform provided fund settlement services for overseas online gambling websites. Some defendants received commission or rebates in the form of USDT via virtual wallets.

Investigation found that from May 24, 2022, to October 18, 2023, five people including Ma collected and disbursed funds on behalf of customers through 105 merchants of 10 third-party payment companies, with settlement amounts exceeding 2.95B yuan. All five were ultimately sentenced for the crime of illegal business operations to terms ranging from three to six years. Ma was sentenced to four years and six months, with confiscation of illegal proceeds of 2.95 million yuan, and a fine of 3 million yuan.