China’s Ministry of Public Security says mainland and Hong Kong police dismantled cross-border underground banking ring tied to crypto trades

China’s Ministry of Public Security said police in Guangdong and other mainland regions, working with Hong Kong police, dismantled a cross-border underground banking criminal group in a coordinated operation launched in May, according to Xinhua and cited by PANews on Oct. 1. Authorities said the group had been operating across Guangdong and Hong Kong. The case involved more than 170 criminal suspects, with over 15 million yuan in funds frozen. Police also seized assets linked to the case worth about HK$170 million. The ministry said the group set up shell companies in the mainland and Hong Kong and used a mix of methods to build illegal channels for moving money across borders. Those methods included onshore and offshore matching transactions, fake trade activity, cash and gold smuggling, and virtual currency transactions. Authorities said the network provided cross-border fund transfer services for crimes related to gambling and fraud. The statement did not disclose further operational details beyond the scale of the arrests, frozen funds, and seized property.