17-3-2025 – Authorities have been closely monitoring a sophisticated romance fraud case unfolding across the Atlantic, where a US federal court has mandated Debiex to reimburse $2.26 million to victims of an elaborate cryptocurrency confidence scheme, with additional penalties approaching $221,500.
The intricate deception, dubbed a “pig butchering scam” by investigators, employed a corps of female operatives who crafted carefully curated personas as successful digital currency traders. These fraudsters methodically cultivated romantic relationships with their targets through social media platforms before shepherding them towards the counterfeit trading venue.
At the heart of the scandal lies Debiex’s masquerade as a legitimate “Blockchain Network Decentralised perpetual contract trading platform”, a façade that crumbled under scrutiny from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The regulatory body’s investigation revealed that five individuals had been duped into depositing substantial sums into the fraudulent enterprise.
A pivotal development emerged when Judge Douglas granted the CFTC’s motion for summary judgment on 13th March, noting Debiex’s conspicuous absence in mounting any defence against the allegations. The ruling highlighted that their non-response could not be dismissed as mere oversight.
The plot thickened with the involvement of Zhāng Chéng Yáng, identified as a crucial conduit for the illicit funds. Judge Rayes’ separate ruling on 12th March ordered the repatriation of digital assets from Zhāng’s OKX wallet, which contained both USTD and Ethereum tokens valued at $119,500, to an undisclosed victim.
Investigation documents revealed the elaborate charade maintained by the platform’s female staff, who sustained their deception through persistent messaging and sharing purported self-portraits. Once investments were secured, the platform fabricated elaborate trading positions and false profit reports, whilst covertly dispersing the cryptocurrency across numerous digital wallets to obscure the money trail.
The CFTC’s January filing exposed how the platform’s sophisticated social engineering tactics successfully convinced victims to participate in ostensible mining operations and futures trading, ultimately leading to the systematic misappropriation of their digital assets.
