China cracks money laundering gang
On August 10, Police in south China announced that had broken up a money laundering gang that illegally transferred USD 1.46 billion abroad, mainly to Vietnam.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, 11 members (8 of them are Vietnamese) of the alleged gang were arrested by police in south China’s Guangxi region in May. However, for some reason, police didn’t announce the arrests earlier.
A Chinese national named Ruan Zhizhong, one of the main suspects, allegedly opened 77 accounts and illegally transferred USD 1.05 billion through more than 10 000 transactions over a 4-year period that ended in March 2008.
During a raid of the gang’s headquarters in Guangxi’s Fangchenggang city, police seized 70 deposit books, 590 bank cards, 2 cars, 6 computers and USD 99 400 in cash. Also, 327 related bank accounts were frozen, but they gave no details.