Tianshui Court hears cases involving the laundering of illicit virtual currency funds: the defendant "runner for cash withdrawal" sentenced to two years and four months in prison

Golden Finance reported that the Qinzhou District People’s Court in Tianshui, Gansu, recently tried a cash-withdrawal-related criminal case involving the use of virtual currency and helping others. The defendant worked part-time under “high-paying errand running.” Knowing the money was fraud proceeds, within 7 days he repeatedly withdrew cash in areas without surveillance coverage, withdrawing a total of more than 390,000 yuan, and then converted the funds into virtual currency to transfer them to his handler, earning a profit of 21,500 yuan. The court held that he committed the crime of concealing and disguising proceeds of crime, and according to law sentenced him to fixed-term imprisonment of 2 years and 4 months, imposed a fine of 10,000 yuan, and ordered him to return the illegal gains. The judge reminded that offline cash withdrawals have become a key step in “washing” proceeds from telecom fraud. “Errand running to withdraw cash” and “high-paying daily settlement” are often just one link in the fraud chain. The public should remain vigilant against actions such as accepting cash on someone else’s behalf, transferring funds, and assisting in the transfer of money, so as to avoid becoming a criminal accomplice.