In a high-stakes crackdown, Chinese authorities have arrested six individuals suspected of operating an illicit $300 million cryptocurrency money laundering scheme. The Public Security Bureau from Panshi City in Jilin Province discovered the operation, which allegedly used underground banks and virtual currencies to launder money between China and South Korea.
The suspects took advantage of the autonomy and anonymity inherent to cryptocurrencies to perform unlawful exchange operations between the Chinese Renminbi and the South Korean Won. This illegal scheme allowed them to facilitate large-scale, cross-border money laundering activities.
It was the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Panshi City Public Security Bureau that first noticed the operation. They followed critical leads indicating Jin Moudong, a resident of Jilin, and his accomplice, Shen Mou, were running currency exchange businesses in both China and South Korea. The pair lured unsuspecting individuals into fraudulent transactions before disappearing back to China.
An investigation uncovered that bank accounts associated with Jin Moudong and Shen Mou had been processing significant transaction volumes. The defective accounts flagged suspicious activities characterized by high frequencies of inbound and outbound funds, diverse clientele, and transaction patterns that echoed those typically seen in illegal underground banking.
The suspects are now behind bars after the Chinese police task force intensively investigated their financial activities, social connections, and organizational structure. The sting seized a considerable number of bank cards and tools used in their criminal activities. Investigators found that the suspects had been receiving and transferring funds in domestic accounts, conducting over-the-counter virtual currency trades, and settling transactions in Korean Won. Their operation served Korean purchasing agents, cross-border e-commerce platforms, and import-export trading companies by facilitating the exchange of Renminbi and Korean Won.