Recently, the Second Intermediate People's Court of Beijing Municipality was seized with a case involving the use of cryptocurrency transactions to conceal and disguise the proceeds of crime. The defendant, knowing that these were proceeds of crime, nonetheless contributed to their transfer and was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison. In August 2024, Mr. Liu sold USDT (commonly referred to as U Coin) to Mr. He, knowing that the money held by the latter was derived from a crime, and received 200,000 yuan in cash. The location of the funds involved is now untraceable. After investigation, the 200,000 yuan transferred by Mr. Liu was money obtained through fraud.
The final judgment of the court concluded that Mr. Liu, knowing that these were proceeds of crime, nonetheless contributed to the transfer, and that his behavior constituted an offense of concealing and disguising proceeds of crime. The court sentenced Mr. Liu for concealing and falsifying proceeds of crime to three years and six months in prison, a fine of 40,000 yuan, and the confiscation of his illegal gains.
The judge stated that the defendants in cases of concealing and falsifying proceeds of crime exhibit typical behavior of seeking profit and are seduced by chance. Many of them cannot resist the temptation of high short-term profits and commit offenses. Despite the intensification of the awareness campaign against telecommunications fraud, most defendants are aware that the assets in question may come from fraud. However, some still maintain the illusion that their acts of concealment and falsification are difficult to detect, or even that, even if discovered, the consequences are not severe, thus daring to defy the law.
The judge reminded everyone to be vigilant against any requests disguised as 'abnormal transactions' under the guise of cryptocurrency. Do not be tempted by so-called 'fees,' 'price differences,' or other negligible gains, and do not rely on the promises of others to participate in transactions, transfers, or conversions of cryptocurrency or funds of unknown origin. Knowing that these are proceeds of someone else's crime while participating in the conversion, transfer, or cashing out may constitute a criminal offense, an offense of concealing and disguising proceeds of a crime, and lead to severe criminal penalties. (Workers' Daily)