A case involving the use of gold purchases to transfer fraudulently obtained funds recently occurred in the Changchun Jingyue High-tech Industrial Development Zone. The procuratorial organ accused a six-person criminal gang, including Peng and Li, of assisting their superiors by transferring money obtained from telecom network fraud through purchasing gold, despite knowing the funds were derived from illegal activities. The amount involved exceeded 1.25 million yuan. The Jingyue Court has concluded the case, sentencing the defendants accordingly.
On May 8, 2025, defendants Peng and Li, under the direction of their superiors, traveled to Changchun from another province along with Bai, Wang, Chen, and Guo (the latter four handled under a separate case due to being under the age of criminal responsibility). After arriving, the six waited for instructions near the Wangfujing Scitech Outlets mall in the Jingyue High-tech Zone. That afternoon, the victim, Bao, fell prey to a telecom scam and mistakenly transferred 1 million yuan into a bank account under the name "Zhang Bao."
Following the successful fraud, the superiors quickly handed the bank card to the gang, ordering them to "clean" the money by purchasing high-value goods. Around 4:00 PM, the six entered a jewelry store within the mall and began executing their plan with clear roles: Li was responsible for using fake identification to make the gold purchases by card, Peng acted as a lookout outside the store, and the other four were tasked with quickly removing the purchased gold from the scene and transferring it to a pre-dug hole at the base of a specified tree in a nearby wooded area.
Li made three separate card purchases totaling 1,000 grams of gold, spending 965,000 yuan, which nearly exhausted the million yuan transferred by the victim. Around 7:00 PM that evening, as the gang attempted a fourth transaction to purchase another 300 grams of gold (valued at approximately 289,500 yuan), they were apprehended on the spot by police who had set up a surveillance operation.
The Jingyue Court determined through trial that defendants Peng and Li, fully aware they were dealing with criminal proceeds, assisted in transferring and converting the funds by purchasing gold, an act of serious nature that severely obstructed judicial authorities from investigating the upstream crime. Their actions violated Article 312 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, constituting the crime of concealing or disguising criminal proceeds.
It is lamentable that although police responded swiftly, apprehending the six gang members within three hours of the victim in another province being defrauded, most of the gold involved had already been successfully transferred, and the superiors remain at large. Defendant Li profited a mere 700 yuan from this criminal activity, while defendant Peng gained only 800 yuan. The majority of the fraudulently obtained funds, channeled through gold purchases, flowed to the upstream fraud syndicate, highlighting the low-level role and significant risks faced by such "tools" within the criminal chain.
The court issued a warning against becoming an accomplice to crime for trivial gains. In this case, the defendants, lured by minimal profits, traveled across provinces to act as "pawns" and "money laundering tools" for the fraud syndicate, ultimately facing severe legal punishment. The court reminds the public, especially young people, not to rent, lend, or sell personal bank cards or SIM cards to others, and certainly not to be directed or tempted into personally participating in transferring funds of unknown origin through cash withdrawals or shopping. Any form of "part-time job" or "help" involving the handling of suspicious funds may constitute a criminal offense. Upholding the bottom line of the law and steering clear of the trap of assisting illegal activities is the responsible choice for oneself and one's family.
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