China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange recently notified the public of 10 different cases of violations. Unlike previous such notifications, these violations were related to the illegal transfer of cross-border gambling funds. The Foreign Exchange Bureau investigated these cases in accordance with China’s Anti-Money Laundering Law and the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration.
In one case, the accused illegally bought and sold 4 foreign exchange transactions worth $3.145 million through an underground bank. He used the funds for overseas gambling activities, resulting in a fine of 1.4 million yuan ($200,000). Elsewhere, a foreign individual used a domestic account to illegally exchange 11 gambling funds worth $637,900 through an underground bank.
All 10 cases have some commonalities. Firstly, all involve underground banks facilitating illegal exchange and transfer of funds for overseas gambling or repayment of gambling debts. Secondly, in all cases, the culprits used multiple domestic and foreign accounts to avoid detection by authorities. Thirdly, the authorities have fed all punishment information for these violations into the country’s credit reporting system. This will enhance future detection capabilities.
The main purpose of the notification about these cases was to create awareness about the serious implications of cross-border gambling. Through this, the authorities have advised Chinese citizens to actively avoid overseas or online gambling.
