Urgent! Remittance and payment accounts to China are frozen

Recently, there have been many cases where overseas Chinese citizens exchanged foreign currency and remitted money to China through third-party remittance companies, and their domestic account funds were frozen by law enforcement departments due to involvement in the case, causing certain losses to their personal property.

Not long ago, the "Yangtze River Currency Laundering Case" that swept the Chinese community in Australia had new progress.

1.06 billion RMB!

Australian police announced that they had raided independent currency exchange companies in Australia. After a 14-month investigation, the Australian police sent more than 300 police officers to search the offices of Changjiang Currency Exchange and the homes of related personnel. Changjiang Currency Exchange is suspected of laundering nearly 230 million Australian dollars (equivalent to 1.06 billion RMB) in the past three years.

It is understood that during this operation, the federal police arrested seven people in Melbourne and seized luxury cars and properties worth about 230 million RMB.

As a large Chinese chain currency exchange company in Australia, Changjiang Currency Exchange has attracted a large number of loyal users. Originally, everyone thought it was a stable and formal way to exchange currency, but they didn’t know that a large number of customers were used as money laundering tools!

Local police said in this case that they discovered "the largest and most complex money laundering gang in Australia" through investigation. The gang is suspected of cybercrime, drug trafficking, cryptocurrency and violent crimes.

AFP Investigations Commander Kate Ferry said the accused group behind the scam deceived victims into believing they were getting a high return on their investment.

A key feature of the scam was the accused group's ability to produce specialized software that was compatible with legitimate trading platforms to misrepresent the true market value of currency exchange rates.

Police allege that the offshore group used Chinese citizens living in Australia (mainly on student visas) to register fake Australian companies and trading licenses with ASIC.

It used these Chinese citizens to open bank accounts in Australia, most of which were related to fake businesses, and then used these fake businesses, substitute directors and bank accounts to launder fraudulent funds through Changjiang Exchange.

Urgently need money, but the account is frozen!

Prior to this, Singapore's major money laundering case has attracted much attention, with the amount involved exceeding 5 billion yuan, involving 10 Chinese. According to information released by the Singapore police on social platforms, the police had previously received intelligence that someone might be engaged in illegal activities, including suspected use of forged documents to prove the source of funds in Singapore bank accounts.

On October 24, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore also issued an announcement to remind Chinese citizens in Singapore to pay attention to the safety of remittances.

The announcement shows that recently, our embassy has received continuous reports from Chinese citizens that they have remitted money through a remittance company in Chinatown Complex. Since last year, there have been more than 670 reports of local bank accounts being frozen after remittances to China.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore also issued an announcement that some foreigners working in Singapore remitted money to Chinese bank accounts through remittance companies, but they were unexpectedly frozen by the Chinese authorities for allegedly involving criminal acts during the remittance process. At least dozens of people were affected.

According to reports, a person whose card was frozen said that in May this year, he remitted 8,500 Singapore dollars (about 45,000 yuan) to his wife in China through Shanli China Remittance Company. In September, he received a letter from the Chinese police, stating that the approximately 30,000 yuan transferred to his wife's account in the Agricultural Bank of China was involved in an online gambling case and was therefore frozen.

The Chinese police asked for documents proving the legality of the funds. He asked the remittance company for help, but there was no progress.

Private currency exchange is also illegal!

Although the Australian government did not ban a large number of third-party currency exchange companies like Singapore did after the Changjiang currency exchange incident, the Chinese in Australia were in a panic. All Australian banks closed the remittance channels to China. Some Chinese had no choice but to choose private currency exchange with higher risks.

From a legal point of view, private currency exchange is an act that is recognized by most countries as disrupting the market financial order.

Private currency exchange violates China's foreign exchange management regulations. Currency exchange through Alipay, WeChat, bank card transfer, etc. has constituted a typical "disguised foreign exchange trading" behavior.

According to regulations, the annual overseas remittance quota for each Chinese citizen is 50,000 RMB, but many people exchange foreign currency privately and easily exceed this amount. If the profit from exchange exceeds 100,000, or the illegal exchange amount exceeds 5 million, it will be severely punished by law!

The Singapore Consumers Association has received 25 related reports this year, 20 of which are related to Shanli Remittance Company. The cracking of this major money laundering case in Australia is also related to the Chinese. The international anti-money laundering situation will inevitably become more severe in the future, and major cross-border payment companies will be subject to higher compliance tests.

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