https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202312/20/WS6582972da31040ac301a8b37.html

Beijing courts have attached great importance to combating money laundering crime in recent years, revealing that defendants involved in the offense are getting younger.

Data released by the Beijing High People's Court showed on Wednesday that the capital's courts solved 40 cases of money laundering from the beginning of 2021 to the end of October this year, with 44 people given punishments.

Although the total number of such cases was not big, the fight against such crime should not be weakened, the high court said.

Of the criminals, 26 were under the age of 40, it said, adding that the youngest was just 24 years old.

"Those who participated in the money laundering are getting younger," Sun Lingling, vice-president of the court, told a news conference, noting that about 60 percent of the criminals were well-educated and more than half of them served as executives or employees of State-owned enterprises or companies.

Sun introduced that money laundering is also a method used in other crimes, such as corruption, bribery, financial fraud, undermining financial order, drug trafficking and smuggling.

"In the money laundering cases solved by the capital's courts, for instance, 20 were related to corruption and bribery," she said.

In addition, with the rapid development of information technology and financial innovation, the methods of money laundering have also become diverse and intelligent, she said.

"Previously, purchasing real estate or converting assets into cash were common methods of money laundering, but over the past few years, it has been more frequent to see assets transferred through online payment platforms," she added.

She highlighted the significance of strengthening the fight against money laundering to maintain market order and guarantee financial security, requiring judges to promptly advise further prosecution if finding clues of money laundering in corruption, or bribery of financial cases.

She also called for establishing a quick channel to seek information about bank account transactions, third-party payment platforms and digital currency transactions to improve the efficiency of money laundering case handling.