Chinese cryptocurrency investors are suddenly restricted from leaving the country? The legal team explains the reasons, inquiry paths and solutions

FX168 Financial News Agency (Asia Pacific) reported that Xiao Sa's legal team pointed out in the latest WeChat public account article on Wednesday (August 28) that recently, the team members suddenly received a consultation call from an old friend in the currency circle late at night. The old friend said that he was suddenly "boundary controlled" and could not leave the country. Because there were some gray areas in the previous business process, he was very worried that he would be taken away by the judicial authorities and his personal freedom would be restricted, so he urgently needed legal services.

Sister Sa's team pointed out that in fact, the old friend's situation is not an isolated case. Among the many cases they handled, "border control" is nothing new, and it is not uncommon for people in the currency circle to be suddenly "boundary controlled". Therefore, Sister Sa's team will explain in detail to the market, what is "border control"? Why are people in the currency circle "boundary controlled"? And if they are "boundary controlled", how to save themselves?

Source: WeChat official account

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What is "border control"?

The so-called "border control" refers to the implementation of exit and entry control of specific personnel by the Chinese National Immigration Administration in accordance with the decision of relevant authorities. There are two specific "border controls": no exit and no entry. The legal term is "restricted exit".

The term "border control" has a long history. At first, it was not a popular abbreviation, but a wording that actually fell into China's normative documents. It was first seen in the "Notice on the Implementation of the New "Notice on Border Control Objects" jointly issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, etc. in 1990. In 1998, the Ministry of Public Security clarified the concept and implementation method of "border control measures" in Article 256 of the "Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs".

To this day, "border control" as a common temporary regulatory measure has not been specifically regulated by a special law, administrative regulations or other normative documents, but is scattered in many laws, regulations, judicial interpretations and normative documents currently in force in China.

For example, at the legal level, there are mainly: (1) "Exit and Entry Administration Law"; (2) "Tax Collection and Management Law"; (3) "Civil Procedure Law"; (4) "Criminal Procedure Law"; (5) "Supervision Law" and so on. In terms of administrative regulations and departmental rules, there are mainly: (1) "Interim Management Measures for Chinese Citizens Traveling to Hong Kong or Macao for Private Affairs"; (2) "Management Measures for Chinese Citizens Traveling to Taiwan"; (3) "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Tax Administration Law"; (4) "Procedures for Handling Road Traffic Accidents"; (5) "Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs" and so on.

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Why are people in the cryptocurrency circle suddenly restricted from leaving the country?

As mentioned above, it is not uncommon for people in the cryptocurrency circle to be suddenly restricted from leaving the country. According to Article 12 of China's "Exit and Entry Administration Law", Chinese citizens are not allowed to leave the country if they have any of the following circumstances:

1. Those who do not hold valid entry and exit documents or refuse or evade border inspection;
2. Those who have been sentenced but have not yet completed the execution of the punishment or are defendants or suspects in criminal cases;
3. Those who have unresolved civil cases and the People's Court has decided not to allow them to leave the country;
4. Those who have been criminally punished for obstructing national (border) management or have been repatriated from other countries or regions due to illegal exit, illegal residence, or illegal employment, and have not yet reached the prescribed period of prohibition from leaving the country;
5. Those who may endanger national security and interests and the relevant competent departments of the State Council have decided not to allow them to leave the country;
6. Other circumstances where laws and administrative regulations stipulate that they are not allowed to leave the country.

According to the practical experience of the Sajie team, people in the cryptocurrency circle are suddenly "controlled at the border", and in most cases, they can't escape the following four reasons:

1. They have been regarded as suspects (or closely related persons) in important criminal cases, and the criminal case has been filed by the investigation agency, and the case is being handled;
2. Due to civil disputes with others, they are "put on" the restricted exit list by the execution court;
3. Involved in the handling of special cases, such as cases involving special departments such as the Supervision Commission;
4. On the list of "sensitive persons".

Therefore, if people in the cryptocurrency circle suddenly find that they are "controlled at the border", they must be vigilant and immediately consult lawyers and other professionals to start risk investigation. Of course, there is no need to fall into a state of extreme tension and desperately seeking medical treatment. Sister Sa's team found that many times, people in the currency circle need to frequently enter and exit the country because some of their work or industries are abroad, or some industries abroad have non-compliant or gray operations (for example, some industries operated abroad are legal and compliant in the destination country, but are illegal or even criminal in China). This may be noticed by regulators and put on the list of "sensitive personnel", and then restricted during the exit process.

Therefore, being "border controlled" does not necessarily mean that a criminal case has been filed. Of course, due to China's relatively negative attitude towards crypto assets and related trading behaviors, and in the current economic environment, some judicial organs may have profit-seeking law enforcement, and the "Sword of Damocles" over the heads of people in the currency circle is still hanging high. If you are under border control, you should not take it lightly.

It should be noted that once it is determined that you are under "border control" because of a criminal case, people in the currency circle must be prepared as soon as possible, because in China, "border control" measures cannot be used at will, and are generally only used to handle important cases. According to Article 278 of the Interpretation and Practical Guidelines for the Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs (2021 Edition) [Approval and Handover Procedures for Border Control]: If border control measures need to be taken against criminal suspects at ports, a border control object notification shall be prepared in accordance with relevant regulations, and relevant legal documents shall be attached. After review by the head of the public security organ at or above the county level, it shall be reported to the provincial public security organ for approval to handle border control measures nationwide... In an emergency, if border control measures need to be taken, the public security organ at or above the county level may issue an official letter and first hand over the control to the entry-exit border inspection authority at the relevant port, but the border control measures nationwide shall be handled in accordance with the prescribed procedures within seven days.

How to check whether you are "under border control"?

In practice, partners can check whether they are "under border control" through various channels.

1. There may be civil disputes with others

Sister Sa's team pointed out that partners can check the China Enforcement Information Disclosure Network (http://zxgk.court.gov.cn/) by themselves, and enter their own name and ID number in the comprehensive query interface of the person to be executed (if the company of which they are the legal representative has a dispute with others, they can enter the company name and organization code for query) to check whether they have been subject to relevant restrictive measures. In addition, they can also communicate with the enforcement judge through a professional lawyer and directly ask whether they have been subject to compulsory measures to restrict exit due to failure to perform the effective judgment.

2. There are no civil disputes or criminal offenses, and they are not sure what they are involved in

1. You can check through the government service platform of the National Immigration Administration. On this platform, you can check your own certificate information. If your relevant certificates show abnormal conditions, you can infer that you may be "border controlled". However, this method is not necessarily accurate. In practice, many partners' certificates show normal conditions, but they encounter difficulties in the actual process of leaving the country.

2. You can go to the entry and exit department for on-site inquiries. Generally, the staff will inform you whether you are restricted from leaving the country.

3. In addition, you can also directly purchase an outbound ticket to see if you can pass the customs inspection. If you are "boundary controlled", you cannot leave the country. Some of the "border controlled" clients that Sister Sa's team has served have been told by relevant staff in person that they cannot leave the country as soon as they enter the airport.

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What should I do if I am subject to border control?

It is also handled according to the situation. If you are restricted from leaving the country because of a civil dispute, there is no criminal risk as long as you are not suspected of refusing to perform an effective judgment or ruling. You can entrust a lawyer to handle it. Of course, the debts to be fulfilled must be fulfilled in the end.

If it involves criminal cases or special cases handled by the Supervision Commission and other agencies, you must start preparing as soon as possible, including entrusting a criminal defense lawyer to communicate with the judicial authorities in advance, arranging the lives of family members in advance, etc.

If you are included in the list of "sensitive persons" by Chinese regulatory agencies for special reasons, the situation is more complicated. First, it is necessary to find out which judicial or administrative regulatory authority will be included in the list of "sensitive persons" (usually the public security agency); secondly, it is necessary to fully communicate with the agency and provide it with a series of "self-proving innocence" materials as required, generally including one's household registration information, bank flow, entry and exit records, overseas work and business situation certification materials, self-statement, etc., subject to the specific requirements of the regulatory agency.

Written at the end

The Sister Sa team wrote: "In general, after the two high courts issued the "Explanation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Money Laundering Cases" not long ago, and included virtual asset transactions in money laundering methods, China has recently begun to strictly investigate related transactions of encrypted assets. Some transactions involve frequent cases of black money and stolen money. Partners in the currency circle must be cautious about their trading behavior and never step on the line. Once you find that you are "border controlled", you must conduct risk investigation as soon as possible. If necessary, you need to entrust a professional lawyer to handle it in time."