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On the evening of January 14, the fourth episode of the television documentary series "Non-Stop Progress, Half-Step No Retreat," titled "Empowering Anti-Corruption with Technology," was broadcast.
The episode analyzed the case of Yao Qian, former Director of the Science and Technology Supervision Department at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
The following is a partial transcript:
Beyond geographical separation between domestic and overseas locations, the physical segregation between online and offline realms has also become a method employed by corrupt individuals attempting to conceal illicit activities. Gold, cash, and valuable items are common mediums for trading power for money in traditional corruption cases. However, with the advent of the digital age and the continuous development of virtual currencies underpinned by blockchain technology, corruption has manifested in a new form that demands vigilance.
These are key pieces of evidence seized in a case involving disciplinary violations and illegal activities by a leading official. Some resemble mobile phones, others look like USB drives, and some appear to be remote controls. In reality, they are various types of hardware wallets used for storing and managing virtual currencies. These three seemingly insignificant small "wallets" contained virtual currencies with a total assessed value equivalent to tens of millions of Chinese Yuan. Those who accepted bribes through such means had also harbored侥幸心理, believing their actions were sufficiently concealed.
Yao Qian, former Director of the Science and Technology Supervision Department at the CSRC: "To be honest, I knew it was a covert act. How could I do it? It's just that I previously thought it would be very difficult to find evidence."
Yao Qian, former Director of the CSRC's Science and Technology Supervision Department and former Director of the Information Center, previously served as the Director of the Digital Currency Research Institute at the People's Bank of China. He was placed under case filing, review, and investigation in April 2024. A special task force was formed by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and National Commission of Supervision stationed at the CSRC, jointly with the Supervision Commission of Shanwei City, Guangdong Province, to handle this case. From the outset, the task force conducted an in-depth analysis tailored to Yao Qian's specific characteristics.
Zou Rong, staff member of the CCDI and National Commission of Supervision stationed at the CSRC: "Supervising such an individual requires creating a profile. He had extensive experience working with digital currencies. Could there be corruption issues involving the use of virtual currencies for trading power for money behind this? In the practice of anti-corruption within capital markets, problems of new and hidden forms of corruption are quite prominent."
As the review and investigation deepened, the task force's initial predictions were confirmed. Several major transactions where Yao Qian traded power for money utilized new and hidden corrupt methods, including accepting virtual currencies. Virtual currencies exist merely as strings of numbers online, not only separated from the holder's identity but also completely isolated from the systems of commercial banks and payment institutions. They can be freely traded on the blockchain and flow across borders without geographical restrictions, exhibiting极强的隐蔽性 and posing significant challenges for supervision. However, the task force was well-prepared from the start. By studying a vast amount of specialized knowledge and gaining a deep understanding of the operational mechanisms of virtual currencies, they identified the key points for the review and investigation. Zou Rong: "The holder primarily relies on a private key to control the virtual currency at a blockchain address. This private key consists of a string of dozens of characters, which is not easy to memorize. Typically, a hardware wallet is used for its safekeeping."
Cai Kunting, staff member of the Shanwei City Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision in Guangdong Province: "During a search, it is crucial to look for two types of items: first, whether there is a hardware wallet; second, whether there are any notes with seemingly random seed phrases. This is paramount during a search." Indeed, the task force discovered a hardware wallet in one of Yao Qian's office drawers. Simultaneously, the task force strictly adhered to rules, discipline, and the law, fully utilizing big data and information technology to conduct a comprehensive排查 of Yao Qian's relevant circumstances, uncovering related traces. While Yao Qian's personal accounts showed no obvious anomalies upon legally querying account information, cross-referencing with big data revealed that several bank accounts opened under others' identities were actually "shell accounts" controlled by Yao Qian. By tracing the sources of large fund flows into these "shell accounts," a significant discovery was made regarding one particular transfer of 10 million Yuan.
Zou Rong: "During the preliminary verification process, we also discovered an abnormal transfer of 10 million Yuan into an account linked to Yao Qian. After approximately four layers of tracing, we ultimately confirmed that the funds should have originated from a capital account belonging to a virtual currency trader."
The investigation revealed that shortly after this 10 million Yuan arrived in Yao Qian's "shell account," it was used to pay for part of a villa in Beijing. This villa, with a total price exceeding 20 million Yuan, was registered under the name of one of Yao Qian's relatives but was actually owned by Yao Qian himself. All funds for purchasing the villa came from Yao Qian's "shell accounts." Besides this 10 million Yuan, two other large deposits, totaling 12 million Yuan, were also used to pay for the villa. Tracing the source of this 12 million Yuan revealed an equally异常复杂 origin.
Shi Changping, staff member of the Shanwei City Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision in Guangdong Province: "He probably thought that by setting up multiple layers, it would create more isolation. But conversely, when the time came, there would be more people and evidence to prove the existence of this issue or problem." The task force penetrated these layers of "smoke screens," conducted深入调查取证, and identified the source of the 12 million Yuan. The funds all originated from an information service company controlled by businessman Wang Mou. This led to the discovery that Yao Qian had used his authority to assist this company in providing technology services within the securities and futures industry, forming a complete chain of evidence for this 12 million Yuan利益输送. Wang Mou further revealed that a key intermediary named Jiang Guoqing was involved in this power-for-money transaction. Jiang was Yao Qian's subordinate and had a very close relationship with him. The task force subsequently placed Jiang Guoqing under留置措施. The investigation found that Jiang had participated in almost every major power-for-money transaction involving Yao Qian, especially when Yao Qian accepted bribes in virtual currency; Jiang Guoqing was involved each time.
Jiang Guoqing, person involved in the case: "Originally, they wanted to pass it through me. But later I thought about it and was afraid of getting into trouble. So I set up a中转地址. Then the other party transferred the coins to the中转地址, which then forwarded them to Yao Qian's personal wallet. I knew this was利益输送. I was afraid, and I knew it was wrong." Jiang Guoqing followed Yao Qian when they were transferred successively to the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China and then to the CSRC's Science and Technology Department. He was not only a trusted aide to Yao Qian but also acted as a pawn in Yao Qian's corrupt activities. Many business owners who engaged in power-for-money transactions with Yao Qian were introduced by Jiang Guoqing or had their requests conveyed through him, with Jiang also taking a cut for his role as intermediary.
In 2018, a cryptocurrency circle老板 named Zhang Mou, through Jiang Guoqing, sought Yao Qian's help to assist his company's token issuance financing project. Yao Qian accepted the request and made arrangements with a certain virtual currency exchange, helping Zhang's company successfully issue tokens and raise 20,000 Ethereum coins. Subsequently, Zhang Mou gave Yao Qian 2,000 Ethereum coins as a thank-you gesture. At their peak assessed market value, these Ethereum coins were once worth over 60 million Yuan. The reason Yao Qian's "arrangement" was effective was naturally tied to the influence of his position. Jiang Guoqing: "Yao Qian's influence within the industry was significant because of his position."
To further solidify the evidence chain, the task force leveraged the characteristics of virtual currencies, attempting to reconstruct the entire transfer process of Yao Qian receiving the virtual currency on the blockchain. Zou Rong: "Virtual currency has隐蔽性, but it's a double-edged sword; it has two sides because it also has the characteristic of being publicly verifiable on the entire network. That is to say, anyone can check the transfer records of any blockchain address at any time. This is determined by the decentralized nature of blockchain, so it also has公开性." Utilizing blockchain technology, the task force not only queried and confirmed the transfer chain of the 2,000 Ethereum coins in 2018 from Zhang Mou's Ethereum wallet address最终 reaching Yao Qian's Ethereum wallet address but also retrieved the complete record of Yao Qian transferring out 370 of those Ethereum coins in 2021 and exchanging them for 10 million Yuan in funds. The task force carried out electronic evidence collection in accordance with rules, discipline, and the law, achieving mutual corroboration among various pieces of evidence and forming a closed loop. Faced with such a robust evidence chain, Yao Qian had no choice but to admit his disciplinary and legal violations.
In November 2024, Yao Qian was expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office, and his case was transferred to the procuratorial organs for依法审查起诉. The successful handling of this case accumulated experience for disciplinary inspection and supervision organs in investigating bribery issues involving virtual currencies. Virtual currencies may seem intangible and shadowless, but once an attempt is made to use them in the real world, they can no longer maintain their virtual state and are bound to "develop" somewhere. The villa purchased by Yao Qian acted as the "developer" that exposed him. Despite painstakingly laying down layers of迷阵, they ultimately could not escape being penetrated. When Yao Qian was placed under留置, the villa's renovation was not yet completed, but he was already destined never to live in it.
Zou Rong: "If virtual currency is not cashed out, it's somewhat useless; it's just a string of numbers. When virtual assets are converted into real assets, they become很容易暴露了." Using virtual currencies to conceal corrupt gains is just one form of new and hidden corruption. Under the high-pressure stance against corruption, no matter how corrupt methods innovate or how forms become隐形变异, as long as the essential characteristic of corruption—trading power for money—is tightly grasped, and efforts strictly adhere to rules, discipline, and the law, fully utilizing big data and other information technologies to enhance identification and investigation capabilities, and continuously enriching effective prevention and control measures, then corruption in any form will have nowhere to hide. Source: Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Commission of Supervision Website, CCTV News Sina Statement: This message is reprinted from Sina cooperative media. Sina.com publishes this article for the purpose of conveying more information, which does not mean it agrees with the viewpoints or confirms the descriptions within. Article content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors who operate based on this information do so at their own risk.
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Responsible Editor: Yang Hongbo
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