Why was the U.S. merchant convicted of concealing the crime of buying and selling USDT to earn the difference?

Source: Lawyer Shao Shiwei

Introduction:

Recently, the magazine "China Prosecutor" published an article "Explanation of Mysterious Cases | Involving Fictitious Cases" "Judicial Identification of Currency Laundering" is a case handled by the Shanghai Changning District Procuratorate in which a U businessman was guilty of concealing and concealing criminal proceeds. The defendant Xiao Mou He made a profit of 6,000 yuan and was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison.

As for the cases involving U.S. merchants buying and selling virtual currencies and being involved in criminal punishment, Lawyer Shao has previously written a number of articles (you can click on the link at the end of the article to read) to conduct legal analysis.

Today we will talk about a more practical issue, which is also the legal consultation that Lawyer Shao is frequently asked about in his daily work.

< span style="font-size: 14px;">(Image source: X, Telegram)

01 Nowadays, even pregnant women are working part-time as U-commerce merchants to earn the difference

I don’t know if it’s because Lawyer Shao has been handling currency-related cases for a long time. I feel like U-commerce merchants are now Are there more and more people?

A few years ago, Shao’s legal team also handled a case in which a certain U-businessman (called her Xiaomei here) was suspected of committing a crime of trust and is currently on bail pending trial. Xiaomei talked about why she became a U-commerce merchant. It was because she was pregnant last year and had nothing to do at home. She saw online information and learned that buying and selling USDT could make a profit, so she started working part-time as a U-commerce merchant, thinking that she could supplement her family income. Although it was traded on a large formal virtual currency exchange, the stolen money was still received.

There is another signal. It can also be seen that the U-business group is getting bigger and bigger. There seem to be more people working in this peripheral industry. To put it in plain English, there are more and more businesses cutting leeks.

Don’t you want to be a U-commerce merchant? There are certain thresholds for it. Do you know how to use a digital wallet? How can I make more profits by trading on different exchanges? How to conduct KYC review on customers? How to avoid receiving black U? How to deal with the police if you are stuck in a freeze? You don’t understand these questions, right? I’m doing U-business training. The course price is only xxxxx yuan. Are you interested? It can perfectly solve all the obstacles you encounter in the process of buying and selling U. Is it very cost-effective? It’s great to do training. The most profitable business is to teach others to make money.

Aren’t U.S. merchants afraid of being cheated when making transactions? I gave you coins, what if you don’t give me money? Some people have found business opportunities from this point and started a U-business guarantee business (somewhat similar to Alipay and Xianyu platforms). If you don't trust both parties in the transaction, then you can trust me. You give me your money and U, and I will deduct some handling fees from both sides as the cost of my guarantee, and then I will transfer it to both of you. This will perfectly solve your problem. Crisis of Confidence. Profit from both ends, make huge profits without capital, this business is really wonderful.

I have always lamented that it is too difficult to be a U-commerce business. You have to make a lot of money and only make a profit of 1,000 yuan or less, but you have to be careful all the time. The risk of receiving black money, and the fact that there are so many people looking to cut themselves off. It may be okay to have a frozen card. Our team has successfully handled many cases of unfreezing bank cards. However, once you are involved in a prison sentence and lose your personal freedom, you will be in big trouble.

02 After being investigated by the police, can I claim my innocence?

This is the simple value of citizens. Whether it is a client or a relative, the first question to consult a lawyer when facing a public security investigation is: I am really just buying and selling U to make the difference. , I really don’t know if I have accepted the black U, can I claim innocence? As a criminal defense lawyer, I can certainly understand this kind of inquiry, but does it mean that if you are investigated by the police, it is OK to just say: "I am subjectively ignorant of other people's illegal and criminal acts"? of course not.

The core point in determining whether a criminal offense is constituted is to look at the perpetrator’s subjective awareness.

Take the case of a U-businessman named Xiao who committed a crime of concealment mentioned in the first part of this article as an example to illustrate the judicial determination of the perpetrator's "subjective knowledge" of the illegal and criminal behavior of the counterparty.

The facts of the case can be briefly summarized as follows: After Xiao acquired U, he sold it to others, and the RMB paid by others to Xiao was part of the stolen money. Xiao was sentenced to concealment.

Lawyer Shao’s comment:

Does Xiao know the specific nature and source of the money obtained by others from upstream? I believe he must be unaware, because he only sells U and builds his own bricks.

So, does the crime of concealment require the perpetrator to know the specific nature and source of the money obtained by others upstream? No need. All the perpetrator needs to know is that the money upstream is stolen money.

Of course, no party involved will take the initiative to say when being interrogated, "I know that the other party's money is stolen money! My transaction is to help the other party transfer the stolen money!" At this time, many evidences must be combined. , it is inferred that the perpetrator had subjective knowledge. For example, in this case:

 1 The transaction method is concealed. Instead of using domestic software such as WeChat and QQ, both parties used Telegram (also known as Paper Plane or Telegram), a foreign chat software with strong anti-reconnaissance capabilities such as instantaneous destruction after reading.

 2 The transaction mode is abnormal. The two parties did not trade in the exchange, but offline, and agreed to do so in toilets, cars, and other places that intentionally avoid surveillance. In addition, all online personnel wore masks and hats to cover up during transactions.

 3 The transaction has a "card test" link and abnormal profits. Each time, Xiao was asked to transfer virtual currency equivalent to 100 yuan to his wallet address. The transaction price was much higher than the highest transaction price of the day on the trading platform. The previous transaction was a loss-making transaction.

Taking the above behaviors together, it is difficult to say that Xiao did not know that there was something fishy about the other party's money.

03 If you cannot be acquitted, how can you fight for a lighter sentence?

The crime of aiding and trusting is punishable by a maximum sentence of three years, and the crime of concealment is punished by a maximum sentence of seven years. The application of different crimes has a great impact on the parties involved. Legally speaking, the crime of concealment involves knowingly knowing that the upstream source is criminal proceeds and the proceeds generated therefrom, while the crime of aiding and trusting is limited to knowing that others use information networks to commit crimes.

However, in judicial practice, the definition of whether an actor commits a crime of accomplice or concealment is not very clear. As analyzed in my previous article "Can the crime of concealment be changed to the crime of aiding and trusting?" Which one gets the lighter sentence? 》 said in The chaos of different verdicts for the same case has always existed.

How to fight for a lighter sentence? The premise is to have an accurate understanding of the concepts and characterization of the two crimes. You can refer to this article by Lawyer Shao, "A review of the article: Possible crimes of providing an account to help people transfer money", which contains a detailed analysis.

In terms of specific cases, it is necessary to analyze the specific constituent elements of the two crimes and combine them with the facts of the case to accurately define them.

Write it at the end

As Lawyer Shao often says to friends who come for consultation, the transaction in the eyes of U businessmen is just the tip of the iceberg.