A Beijing man was sentenced to three years in prison for helping others cash out in the "cryptocurrency circle" and concealing the proceeds of crime

On January 26, according to the Beijing High People's Court, a "newbie in the cryptocurrency circle" in Beijing acted as a "tool man" to cash out the stolen money from crimes, helping people to cash out and collecting benefits. For the crime of concealing and hiding the proceeds of crime, the man was sentenced to three years in prison and fined RMB 30,000.

Qiu met Xingxing on a chat app and they had a great time chatting. Xingxing invited Qiu to participate in "cryptocurrency speculation" to make money. Under Xingxing's strong encouragement, Qiu registered an account with his real name on a virtual currency platform called "Moubi.com" and linked several of his bank cards.

Through the platform, Qiu first received a virtual currency called Tether (USDT) from Xingxing, then sold the Tether to Xingxing's accomplices at a high price, then withdrew the money from the sale of Tether from the platform to his own bank card, and finally withdrew cash from the bank card and gave it to Xingxing. Xingxing gave Qiu a commission based on a certain percentage of the total amount of cash each time.

In the process of helping Xingxing sell Tether and withdraw cash many times, Qiu's bank account was repeatedly frozen by the judiciary for suspected transfer of criminal proceeds. However, Qiu, knowing that the money was of illegal origin, still helped others withdraw cash and deliver it to others many times after the account was unfrozen.

After trial, the Shunyi Court held that the act of knowing that the proceeds of crime were stolen money and selling them on the virtual currency platform and finally withdrawing and transferring the stolen money met the behavioral pattern of transferring and concealing stolen money in the crime of concealing and hiding the proceeds of crime as stipulated in Article 312 of the Criminal Law.

The judgment of whether the perpetrator was subjectively aware of the situation is mainly determined by combining the individual cognitive level, past experience, objective behavior, etc. of the perpetrator. Specifically in this case, Qiu's behavior of accepting virtual currency from a stranger for cash withdrawal and giving cash to the other party for profit without reason is contrary to common sense, and he continued to engage in this activity after knowing that his bank card was frozen by the judiciary, which is subjectively aware. In addition, in the review of whether the perpetrator knew that the money was illegal proceeds of crime, the court did not require him to clearly understand what specific crime it was, but only to have a general understanding that the money was of unknown origin and there were problems.

Ultimately, Qiu was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of RMB 30,000 for concealing the proceeds of crime. Qiu appealed, and the second-instance court upheld the sentence.

Judge Tips

Virtual currency has been one of the hot topics in recent years. As an emerging thing, it should be developed in an orderly manner within the legal framework. It should be noted that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether are not issued by monetary authorities and do not have legal currency status in my country, and cannot be circulated as financial attributes. Virtual currency-related businesses such as the exchange of legal currency and virtual currency, the exchange of virtual currencies, and the provision of information intermediary and pricing services for virtual currency transactions are illegal financial activities and are strictly prohibited.

Therefore, users should rationally evaluate the value of virtual currencies, be cautious about the so-called "cryptocurrency speculation" related activities, and should not engage in "currency-for-cash" activities for profit purposes. They should carefully distinguish the various types of virtual currencies and guard against legal risks such as financial fraud or money laundering crimes.