Kwon, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud. US District Judge Paul Engelmayer delivered the sentence at a New York hearing, calling the case “a fraud of epic generational scale.”
“As fraud networks evolve, so must our response,” said Tracy Jin, COO of MEXC. “But education remains key. Risk control isn’t about punishment — it’s about protection.”
According to police sources, the fraudsters used online payment platforms such as PhonePe and Paytm to collect funds. The money was then converted into USDT (US Dollar Tokens) via Chinese crypto exchanges, including Binance, before being transferred to undisclosed international accounts.
Andriunin was among 15 individuals and three companies charged in October as part of "Operation Token Mirrors," an investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at exposing fraudulent activities in the cryptocurrency market.
The scam, orchestrated through spoofed websites mimicking legitimate cryptocurrency exchanges, has links to Chirag Tomar, an Indian national currently serving a prison sentence in the United States for a similar fraud.
