May 15 of each year is the National Public Security Organs' Publicity Day for Combating and Preventing Economic Crimes. Let's pay attention to the money laundering crime that often occurs in the field of economic crimes, as the name suggests, money laundering is the legalization of illegal funds, so the fight against money laundering crimes can effectively cut off the capital chain of other crimes. In order to evade the crackdown, criminals have emerged in an endless stream of ways to launder money.
Not long ago, the Shanghai police detected a new type of money laundering case, in a popular online live broadcast room, a "big brother" known as "Shenhao" recharged tens of millions of yuan to reward the anchor, and other fans in the live broadcast room did not know that the 10 million reward was related to the money laundering case.
In September 2018, a well-known online live broadcast platform held a fan carnival event, and the man who sang affectionately on the stage was the original singer of this song, Wang, who was born in 1984, not only likes to sing, but also participated in many movies and TV series. But those who are familiar with him know that he is also a well-known network anchor. Relying on his ability to sing and chat, Wang not only attracted countless fans, but also relied on the rewards of fans to successfully be selected as a gold medal artist on the live broadcast platform.
Among Wang's many fans, there is a fan with the screen name "Yiling Yanyu Ren Pingsheng" who is the most famous, because during Wang's live broadcast, as long as this person appears, all kinds of heavyweight gifts will fly all over the screen. These countless virtual gifts bloomed in the live broadcast room with colorful special effects, but many people also know that behind the colorful screen are the result of real money and silver illusion.
In a live broadcast in January 2020, because of the fan's heavy reward, the atmosphere in the live broadcast room was directly pushed to a climax, and many people also followed the reward under the infection of this atmosphere, which also made fans change from watching the anchor to watching the "big brother".
Fans in the live broadcast room were extremely curious about the identity of this person, until one night in April 2020, this mysterious figure hidden behind the anchor Wang suddenly appeared in the live broadcast room. Wang's fans only saw the true face of this mysterious person for the first time. Although he didn't appear in the live broadcast room for a long time, someone soon recognized that this mysterious person with a generous shot was Yu Mou, the owner of a company in Shanghai.
A few months later, Yu posted a video on the company's social platforms. In the video, Yu said that due to the external environment, many of his company's project funds were facing the situation that they could not be returned, and he decided to entrust other senior executives of the company to temporarily start emergency measures.
What many people don't know is that when Yu released this video, he had actually absconded abroad. A reward is tens of millions of yuan, how can there be a problem with the company's capital chain? And what does his company do?
Soon, the Shanghai police received some police calls from investors claiming to be Yu from a company, and these calls completely tore apart the secret behind Yu's tens of millions of rewards.
On August 18, 2020, the Shanghai police received reports from the public that they could not cash out the wealth management products purchased by an investment company in Shanghai after they expired. After receiving the police, the police rushed to the scene as soon as possible to deal with it.
Huang Yi, a police officer from the Economic Investigation Detachment of the Pudong Branch of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, introduced: "We found that the content of the report had some similarities with some fund-raising criminal cases we had handled in the past, and we immediately notified the Economic Investigation Detachment to intervene in screening and collecting evidence. ”
Wang Zhiyin, a police officer from the Economic Investigation Detachment of the Pudong Branch of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, said: "First of all, we immediately inquired about the high-level and middle-level employees who remained in Shanghai and asked about the company's basic operation model. At the same time, at that time, there were also senior executives from local branches who came to inquire about the situation, and we conducted interviews with the executives of the branches to understand the form of their fundraising, which was actually illegal fundraising under the cloak of legality. ”
After investigation, since December 2017, without the approval of the relevant state departments, Yu's company has set up offline stores in more than 150 cities in 18 provinces across the country in the name of the so-called financial leasing income transfer plan for special vehicles and new energy vehicles, and illegally raised funds from unspecified members of the public.
Huang Yi, a police officer, said: "After a preliminary review of the contract, we have promised to guarantee the principal and interest relatively simply and rudely, and no matter any risk or force majeure, there will be a high return of interest every year." This is contrary to the ordinary business or business dealings, without considering any unexpected risks, labor, or any other costs. ”
Wang Zhiyin, a police officer, said that the company was actually sucking up the people's funds under the guise of vehicle financial leasing, and the funds were not really used for vehicle operations, but were actually squandered by the company's actual controller.
The police sorted out the flow of funds of a certain company and found that the stolen money obtained by the company involved in illegal fundraising was as high as more than 1.2 billion yuan, part of which was used for the daily operation of the company, and a considerable part of the money entered Yu's personal account.
Gan Yiming, a police officer from the Economic Crime Investigation Corps of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, said: "We found that in addition to a certain person's squandering, such as buying jewelry and luxury cars, a large part of it was recharged to a certain online live broadcast platform. ”
Yuan Wei, captain of the three teams of the Economic Crime Investigation Corps of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, said: "The amount of rewards given by Yu was tens of millions of yuan, and we felt that this behavior was very suspicious at the time, so we will further track down and find out whether he is suspected of laundering or transferring the stolen money." ”
The police retrieved Yu's personal account on the live broadcast platform, and found from his past tipping records that from January 2018 to June 2020, Yu successively rewarded nearly 100 anchors on the platform, among them, Wang, Li, Jia, and Fang, the four anchors were his key targets.
So, why are only these four anchors favored by Yu Mou, so he does not hesitate to spend a lot of money to reward? This also attracted the attention of the police.
Police officer Gan Yiming said: "We investigated all the funds in the personal accounts of several anchors who received huge rewards, and then through the layers of funds, we found that these anchors involved in the case will withdraw the tips to the personal accounts and related accounts of the main suspects of fundraising fraud after receiving huge tips from the main suspects of fundraising fraud." ”
Based on this, the police believe that these anchors are indeed suspected of helping a certain money laundering. But do they know where the money comes from?
In the subsequent investigation, the police found that these anchors had a very close relationship with Yu in private, not only traveling together, but also frequently going in and out of Yu's company. The interaction between these anchors and Yu is far more than that, and during the investigation, the police also found that Wang, one of the four anchors, also said during the live broadcast that he held the employee number of a certain company.
Not only that, but the anchor surnamed Wang also openly proposed in the live broadcast room that he could help the person who gave the reward to launder money.
In the investigation of the four anchors, the police also found that some criminal suspects in the black and gray industry will recharge the criminal proceeds into the accounts of the online live broadcast platform, and then sell them to some reward coin intermediaries at a 6% or 7% discount, and these intermediaries buy them at a low price, and then sell them to some anchors' teams or fans at a 7% to 8% discount to earn the difference.
Police officer Gan Yiming said: "In the process of tracking the anchor's personal fund account, we also further investigated and found that there were also suspects of telecommunications fraud and online gambling, and they got acquainted with Fan, who was an employee of Li's live broadcast studio at the time. On the one hand, Fan is for personal profit, and on the other hand, it is to help Li broadcast better, get platform rewards, and reward some anchors in his studio. ”
After obtaining conclusive evidence, the Shanghai police closed the net on the relevant persons involved in the case. In the process of arresting the four anchors, because one of the anchors was still live broadcast when he was arrested, the police action was quickly discovered by the viewers and revealed to another person involved in the case, Li, who was live broadcasting. But what Li wouldn't have thought was that the reminders of the spectators would not help him, because the police in charge of arresting him were also paying attention to his live broadcast in order to grasp his real-time movements.
So far, the police have arrested a total of 44 people involved in the case, of which 40 defendants suspected of illegally absorbing public deposits have been sentenced, and the arrest of Yu is also ongoing.
In November 2023, the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate approved the arrest of Li, Wang, Fang, and Jia on suspicion of money laundering. The procuratorate believes that from January 2018 to July 2020, Li and four other anchors clearly knew that the funds recharged by Yu X to the live broadcast platform for tips or bank transfers to his personal bank account were the proceeds of illegal fundraising by the operating company, but still accepted Yu X as a tip, and returned funds to Yu X through transfers and other forms, and their actions have constituted the crime of money laundering.
In the later review, the prosecutor found that the reason why these four anchors became the targets of Yu's key rewards was largely because they were "sensible" and withstood the test given to them by Yu. Because, at the beginning of choosing a tipping target, a small tip will be made first, and then a large tip will be made from time to time to attract the attention of anchors and establish contact.
In the daily live broadcast, Yu will also communicate with several anchors, plan scripts, and deliberately create topics and heat in order to maximize benefits.
With the heavy blessing of Yu, the "big brother on the list", several anchors not only earned enough fame, but also obtained rich benefits. And they also returned the money that was given to them in proportion to the money they were given. One in and one out, the illegal gains of a certain will be laundered.
Be careful with these money laundering schemes
Florist: RMB cash bouquet
The owner of the flower shop received an application for a WeChat friend, and the other party said that he found the contact information of the owner of the flower shop on a certain platform and added his WeChat friends, asking for a customized bouquet of RMB or a bouquet with a large cash gift box to give to his friend, and asked the flower shop to provide an account number, and soon received a large amount of transfer, and the other party was also very happy to pay the packaging and delivery fees of the flower shop. Under normal circumstances, after receiving a satisfactory commission, the florist owner will be particularly happy to withdraw the cash and fold the RMB into a bouquet or put it in a gift box and deliver it at a fixed point. The payment of the flower shop owner's account is actually the defrauded funds transferred by the victim, and soon the flower shop owner's bank card will be frozen.
Gold shop: bank card, collection code transfer
There will also be different people, for different reasons, who will make a large purchase in the gold store, and even pretend to bargain with you, and finally ask you to provide an account number or collection code, saying that their friends or companies will pay, and then disappear with the gold and silver. Such people will also disguise themselves, and the money you receive is also the victim's defrauded funds, and your account will also be frozen, and the suspect will be difficult to catch.
Mobile phone store: bank card, collection code transfer
There will be all kinds of people who come to the mobile phone store, buy mobile phones in large quantities for various reasons, and even ask you to help go to other stores to get other electronic devices, which will give you a certain amount of money, and then ask you to provide a collection code or bank card, saying that the company will pay, and then leave with the mobile phone and electronic equipment. In fact, all you receive is the defrauded funds paid by the victim by scanning the QR code, and soon your account will be frozen, and the scammer will walk away, and this kind of person will generally carry out a certain disguise.
Smoke Hotel: Transfer by someone else after purchase
The gang members pretended to buy high-end brand cigarettes and liquor, and told you that a friend would pay the money on their behalf, and after the victim's funds were deposited, the cigarettes and liquor were taken away, and your account was frozen.
Cake shop: cake with RMB
The owner of the cake shop will receive a strange phone call, the other party will say that he has seen the contact information of the cake shop on a certain platform, and wants to customize a large cash cake gift box to give to the designated person, asking about the packaging and delivery fees of the cake shop. This kind of order is generally received by cake shops, but this time it is a large amount, as long as the packaging fee and delivery fee are in place, the boss will not refuse. In the same way, the other party will settle the trouble with the platform, and the cake shop owner will add WeChat friends to transfer money or directly ask the cake shop owner to provide an account number and transfer it quickly, and the cake shop will generally withdraw cash as soon as possible and deliver it to the designated location. The funds received by the cake shop account are actually the defrauded funds transferred by the victim, and soon the cake shop account will be frozen.
Tea room: cash out to play cards
The staff of the teahouse are just tools to run errands, and the real suspect is someone else. Their modus operandi is concealed and the division of labor between the gangs is clear. They transfer the money to the bank card of the teahouse owner by electronic transfer, and then ask the teahouse owner to provide cash or go to the bank to withdraw cash on the grounds that they need to exchange cash to play cards, and then hand it over to the designated person. The bank card of the owner of the tea house is actually the defrauded funds transferred by the victim, and the bank card of the owner of the tea house will soon be frozen, and the designated person will not be able to find it.
Lottery shop: Buy scratch tickets
There will be strangers to the lottery shop to buy a large number of whole scratch lottery tickets,Will find a variety of reasons to say that they don't have enough money,Ask the lottery shop to provide a collection code for family or friends to transfer the money,After the lottery shop receives the money,The other party will quickly disappear with scratch tickets. The money received by the lottery shop is actually the defrauded funds transferred by the victim, and the lottery shop's account will soon be frozen, and it will be difficult for the other party to find it, because they usually wear masks or disguise themselves throughout the process.
Foreign trade merchants: "knock-on" money laundering
With the help of the operation of "underground banks", they engage in cross-border remittances, fund payment and settlement and other activities in an attempt to evade national financial supervision.
Merchants should pay attention to these things
■ Physical store merchants
1. Install high-quality video surveillance in the store as much as possible in case of emergency;
2. As long as the customer has carried out a certain amount of camouflage, such as a person wearing a hat and a mask, please be sure to find a way to get them to remove the mask and camouflage, and guide them to the best position, so that your surveillance can capture the other party's clear facial information. Pay close attention to whether the other person is wearing a human skin mask;
3. As long as the customer behaves strangely, looks around and talks about him, or has a foreign accent, please be vigilant;
4. When the bank encounters the situation of making an appointment for cash withdrawal, especially for outsiders and young people who make an appointment for cash withdrawal, it is necessary to pay attention to check the flow of funds and ask about the source of funds;
5. Be cautious when using payment codes! As much as possible, do not accept QR code payments from others;
6. For any unfamiliar orders with cash withdrawal requirements, please be cautious and contact the Anti-Fraud Center for screening and verification;
7. Leave as many multi-faceted contact information as possible for suspicious customers, such as WeChat, Alipay, phone number, etc.;
8. The most effective way is to take the initiative to learn anti-fraud knowledge and improve your own anti-fraud awareness.
■Foreign trade merchants
1. Require the customer to confirm the bank account information of the payer before paying for the goods. If the customer cannot confirm it, it is likely that the illegal and criminal elements will pay for the goods on their behalf;
2. Do not accept payments that are not related to the payment of goods;
3. Do not participate in collecting and paying on behalf of others;
4. Do not transfer the extra payment to others according to the customer's instructions, and return it in the original way;
5. Do not participate in the private trading of foreign exchange;
6. Do not frequently carry out operations such as card replacement and cancellation;
7. Require foreign businessmen to pay for goods in person, and do not pay for goods through domestic and foreign third parties that have nothing to do with trade transactions;
8. Use the company's account to receive and pay, and do not borrow personal bank accounts such as bosses, employees, and relatives to pay for goods. Comprehensive CCTV news, etc