On 19 Aug. 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) jointly issued the “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Money Laundering” (关于办理洗钱刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释, hereinafter the “Interpretation”), which aims to clarify the standards for conviction and punishment of money laundering crimes to ensure the correct implementation of the Criminal Law.
Previously, the “Amendment (XI) to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China” made significant changes to the provisions on money laundering, including the expansion of the law to include “self-laundering” and the removal of the cap on fines, which had a significant impact on the conviction and sentencing in money laundering cases.
The Interpretation consists of 13 articles, which provide for the application of law in the handling of criminal money laundering cases. The highlights of the Interpretation are as follows.
- The criteria for determining “serious circumstances” in money laundering cases are clarified. Whoever launders money amounting to CNY 5 million or more and falls under any of the following circumstances, such as repeatedly committing the act of money laundering; refusing to cooperate in the recovery of money or property, making it impossible to recover the stolen money or property; causing a loss of CNY 2.5 million or more; and causing other serious consequences, shall be deemed to fall under “serious circumstances”.
- The standards for the amount of fines are specified. It stipulated the minimum amount of the fine for different sentencing ranges.
In 2023, the Chinese procuratorates charged 2,971 individuals with money laundering, nearly 20 times the number charged in 2019. The number of money laundering cases continued to rise between 2021 and 2023, and the trend remained steady in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period last year.
Photo by Jennifer Chen on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
