Chinese Police Arrest 1.1K People on Crypto-Related Money Laundering Charges

Chinese police have arrested over 1,000 people on money-laundering charges, alleging they used cryptocurrency to help them evade the law. 

This is the fifth round of a nationwide crackdown on money-laundering activities related to telecom fraud in China, dubbed “Operation Card Breaking,” according to a statement released by the Ministry of Public Security on its official WeChat account on Wednesday. 

The most recent round is targeted at people that use cryptocurrencies to assist money-laundering activities. The Chinese police have arrested more than 1100 people and eliminated 170 criminal organizations. 

Telecom criminals tend to use fake or stolen SIM cards and compromised bank accounts to launder their money through the traditional banking system. That has become difficult since the Chinese police started to tighten surveillance on commercial banks and black markets for SIM cards and bank accounts. 

As fraudsters increasingly turn to cryptocurrencies to launder their money, Chinese police have been cracking down on crypto-related money-laundering crimes across 23 provinces and regions, including Beijing city as well as Hebei and Shanxi provinces. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.