A detailed review of the entire process of Zhao Dong’s “investigation”: Why is he suspected of “covering up and concealing criminal proceeds”?

On July 2, the news that Zhao Dong, a cryptocurrency OTC tycoon, was “under investigation” attracted widespread attention. At noon, a rumor was widely circulated in the cryptocurrency circle, saying that he was taken away by Yancheng police at around 10:40 in the morning. Although the information was basically untrue, the core fact of “being investigated” was still disclosed.

Wu said blockchain later confirmed from multiple channels that Zhao Dong was investigated by Hangzhou police in the early morning of the 24th, and many well-known people in the cryptocurrency circle are participating in the assistance. The above-mentioned rumors about Yancheng and today are all false. At the same time, around 1 o'clock, several WeChat work groups of Zhao Dong's OTC team + external personnel took the initiative to disband.

Around 4 p.m., Renrenbit issued a statement through the Planet Daily, saying that Zhao Dong did not directly participate in illegal trading. Due to the supervision of frozen cards, a Beijing OTC team (in which Zhao Dong once participated in the investment) was cooperating with the police in the investigation and evidence collection for suspected fraudulent fund transactions.

However, it is inappropriate to say "not directly involved in illegal transactions" here, because the court has not yet made a ruling and it should not be directly defined as illegal, which would make the outside world think that Zhao Dong was indirectly involved in illegal transactions.

Later, Renrenbit CMO also spoke out on Weibo, saying that "Zhao Dong himself did not directly participate in the transaction business. He took the initiative to cooperate with the investigation as an investor. It is the obligation of citizens to cooperate with the relevant departments in anti-fraud and anti-money laundering investigations. After the cooperation with the investigation is completed, we will respond to you publicly. Please rest assured."

Wu Blockchain learned that Zhao Dong or the OTC team he invested in may be suspected of "concealing criminal proceeds." On June 30, Wu Blockchain published an article to explain this crime in detail: Cryptocurrency Circle Card Freezing Wave (7): OTC transactions that touch these 7 items may be considered crimes and must be vigilant.

As Renrenbit said in its response, it is under the supervision of frozen cards recently. Wu said that the blockchain had disclosed that Dongguan strictly investigated telecommunications fraud, resulting in the detention of many OTC traders and the freezing of thousands of cards; since then, OTC traders suspected of money laundering in Guangxi and other places have been investigated and detained.

Of course, there are still some unanswered questions. Who are the shareholders of this OTC team in Beijing? What specific cases are involved? And will it affect other OTC merchants? (Take Dongguan as an example. If an OTC merchant gets into trouble, there will often be a lot of collateral damage.) Wu said he will continue to pay attention to the follow-up.

Renrenbit also issued a related statement, emphasizing that reducing personal influence in organizational operations and implementing a dual CEO rotation mechanism starting in May are the basis for the long-term development of the team.

A detailed explanation of the crime of concealing criminal proceeds and the crime of profit from criminal proceeds, which OTC traders must be extremely vigilant about

Lawyer Xia Wei said that concealing criminal proceeds and the crime of obtaining proceeds from criminal proceeds are almost the only crimes that OTC traders may be involved in, and they are also the part that OTC traders must focus on. The key to distinguishing whether it is a crime or not is knowing that it is criminal proceeds and the proceeds generated by it. In other words, if you know that the money you buy coins comes from a crime and you still trade with the other party, you will commit this crime.

[Crime of concealing or hiding criminal proceeds and proceeds from criminal proceeds] Whoever knowingly conceals, transfers, purchases, sells on behalf of others, or conceals or hides criminal proceeds and proceeds from criminal proceeds shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall be fined or fined alone; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years, and shall be fined.

If an organization commits the crime in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and its directly responsible supervisor and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. It is suspected that in this case, Zhao Dong or his staff are the directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible persons , and they may be investigated. In other words, if Zhao Dong can prove that he was not aware of this and is not the direct person in charge of the company, he should not have any relevant responsibilities.

The definition of "knowingly" is not what we think it is, but has a special legal definition:

(1) Knowing that another person is engaged in criminal activities, assisting in the conversion or transfer of property;

(2) Assisting in the conversion or transfer of property through illegal means without justifiable reasons;

(3) Purchasing property at a price clearly below the market price without justifiable reasons;

(4) Assisting in the conversion or transfer of property without justifiable reasons and charging “handling fees” that are significantly higher than the market price;

(5) Without justifiable reasons, assisting others to deposit large amounts of cash in multiple bank accounts or frequently transferring cash between different bank accounts;

(6) Assisting close relatives or other closely related persons to convert or transfer property that is obviously inconsistent with their occupation or property status;

(VII) Other circumstances of which the perpetrator may be deemed to have been aware.

From this, we can see that for an OTC merchant, if he receives coins at too low a price, charges too high a handling fee, helps people deposit money in multiple accounts, and helps acquaintances deposit large amounts of money from unknown sources, it is considered "knowingly". In other words, as long as he does these things, he is suspected of committing a crime, even if he does not know the source of the money.