Cross-border crackdown on encryption crime: 15 members of the USDT criminal gang in Putian arrested, Beijing financing boss pays $200 million in settlement in the UK and US.

Recently, two financial crime cases involving Virtual Money have revealed the complexity and transnational nature of such crimes, as well as the new strategies employed by law enforcement agencies. In Putian, Fujian, the People's Procuratorate of Hanjiang District successfully prosecuted a case involving the establishment of an underground forex network using USDT, with a transaction volume exceeding 13.3 billion yuan. Through measures such as proactive intervention, fund penetration examination, and voiceprint comparison, they successfully broke through the "zero confession" defense line. At the same time, according to Caixin, Song Shijie, the owner of an off-exchange financing operation in Beijing who owes a huge fine, handed over nearly 200 million yuan in assets as settlement to the UK and the US, which were identified as proceeds from his illegal securities trading and Money Laundering from Crypto Assets "Pig-butchering scams" within China. These two cases collectively demonstrate the rampant use of Virtual Money for cross-border financial crimes, as well as the determination and capability of global law enforcement agencies to combat them.

Hanjing Procuratorate accurately strikes at the USDT underground forex network

The reporter learned yesterday that the Hanjiang District People's Procuratorate has achieved a precise strike against new types of Virtual Money crimes through three dimensions: preemptive intervention, in-depth review, and technological empowerment.

In the first half of this year, the People's Court of Huanjiang District ruled on a virtual money-related criminal case initiated by the court. Yan, Zheng, Lin, and others used virtual currency USDT to set up an underground forex trading network, recruiting clients through overseas chat software, and illegally exchanging RMB and foreign currency with "U coins" as a medium, with the involved bank account transaction volume exceeding 13.3 billion yuan. Upon investigation, the illegal forex trading amount was 25.62 million yuan. This criminal gang also withdrew cash exceeding 478 million yuan from banks in multiple locations in Fujian Province, purchased "U coins," and transferred them to upstream criminal wallets to "clean" the cross-border criminal funds, earning a profit from the price difference.

At the beginning of the case filing by the public security organs, the People's Procuratorate of Hanjing District immediately activated the major case synchronous intervention mechanism, clearly proposing key suggestions such as increasing efforts to capture fugitives, timely seizing and freezing funds in involved accounts, securing electronic evidence related to transaction funds, and conducting special audits when necessary, to ensure a comprehensive investigation of the entire chain of criminal facts related to illegal foreign exchange trading.

Penetrating Review and Voiceprint Comparison: Breaking the Zero Confession Dilemma

After the case was transferred for review and prosecution, the prosecutor in charge guided the investigators to conduct a penetrating analysis of the flow of funds, addressing the challenge of associating the mixed transaction records worth hundreds of millions of yuan in the electronic evidence with all the suspects. This analysis accurately identified that the illegal business amount for 2 defendants reached over 20 million yuan and simultaneously clarified that the amount facilitated by the "withdrawal team" for payment settlement ranged from over 7 million yuan to over 470 million yuan. Through a comprehensive analysis of subjective and objective evidence, the nature of the behaviors of the accomplices in illegal business and those assisting in cybercrime activities was successfully and accurately distinguished.

After the suspect Lin denied all criminal facts upon arrival, the court guided the public security organ to extract 3 key voice segments sent from the co-defendant's phone and entrusted a judicial appraisal agency to conduct a voiceprint comparison. The appraisal confirmed that the detected voice samples matched those of Lin. This ultimately established a successful evidentiary connection between the account involved in the case and the defendant Lin, solidifying the basis for the charges. Lin, who had previously insisted on his innocence, confessed and pleaded guilty in court.

In response to the qualitative disputes, the court organized multiple discussions with the police and the judiciary to reach a consensus. Ultimately, the court sentenced 15 individuals, including Yan Moumou, Zheng Moumou, and Lin Moumou, to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 8 months to 3 years for the crimes of illegal business operations and assisting in information network criminal activities, along with fines.

The Beijing financing boss Song Shijie’s overseas assets have been confiscated.

According to Caixin, Song Shijie, the largest over-the-counter financing boss in Beijing, China, who owes 22 million yuan in penalties to the national treasury, has handed over nearly 200 million yuan in assets to the UK and the US as confiscation settlement money. The UK's National Crime Agency seized his mansion, apartment, and bank accounts in London, totaling 16.7 million pounds (approximately 161 million yuan), determining that these funds came from his illegal securities trading within China and money laundering activities conducted in the UK.

According to reports, Song Shijie was also involved in the Pig-butchering scams of crypto assets. A document from the Orlando court in Florida, USA, indicates that he avoided criminal charges by waiving claims to frozen assets. His 3 accounts on Binance were frozen, which contained approximately 10 million dollars in crypto assets.

Common Insights from Two Cases: The Transnational and Technical Challenges of Virtual Money Crimes

These two cases together reveal a new trend in financial crime. Criminals are increasingly exploiting the anonymity and cross-border characteristics of Virtual Money to engage in illegal forex trading, Money Laundering, and scams, making the forms of crime more hidden and complex. The Song Shijie case particularly highlights the necessity of cross-border transfer of criminal funds and the global asset tracing, as well as the importance of cooperation among international law enforcement agencies. The successful case of Huanjiang Procuratorate demonstrates how Chinese judicial authorities can effectively respond to these challenges through technological innovations, such as fund flow penetration analysis and voiceprint comparison. This indicates that, with the growing popularity of Virtual Money today, law enforcement agencies are continuously upgrading their investigative methods to tackle financial crimes in the new situation.

Conclusion

These two cases are not isolated incidents, but rather a microcosm of the global wave of combating financial crimes utilizing virtual money. On one hand, they reveal the risks of crypto assets being misused in illegal activities; on the other hand, they demonstrate that law enforcement agencies are actively adapting to this new environment. Through technological empowerment, fund tracing, and international judicial cooperation, they are building an increasingly robust defense line against crime. The asset seizure of Song Shijie by multiple countries, as well as the successful conviction of "zero confession" criminal suspects by the Chengjiang Procuratorate, sends a clear warning to potential criminals: in the digital world, criminal activities will no longer be traceable.