Shanghai Police Crack Down on Major Underground Bank Case: Using Cryptocurrency for Cross-Border Currency Exchange, Involving Nearly 20 Billion Yuan

On August 27, the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau held a press conference today. Since the beginning of this year, the Shanghai police have cracked multiple illegal operations and money laundering cases involving cryptocurrency as a medium, arresting over 70 criminal suspects and involving more than 20 billion yuan.

In January 2026, the Shanghai Economic Investigation Department discovered during an online patrol that someone was promoting currency exchange services on an online platform. After comprehensive analysis, the police suspected the existence of economic crimes and initiated an investigation.

Investigations revealed that since August 2024, criminal suspects Liu, Xu, Gao, Wang, and others sought illegal profits by using cryptocurrency as a settlement medium without approval from the national authorities. They attracted customers with currency exchange needs both online and offline, illegally completing the exchange of RMB and foreign currencies through cryptocurrency and domestic and foreign fund matching, charging service fees proportionally.

During the investigation, the police found that the criminal gang had a clear structure and defined roles. Suspect Liu was responsible for connecting with customer needs, contacting cryptocurrency traders, and issuing transfer instructions; Xu, Gao, and others were responsible for recruiting individuals from society and opening bank accounts in bulk for the gang to collect and circulate exchange funds; Wang was specifically in charge of operating the involved accounts and transferring customer funds. Specifically, after customers transferred RMB into the gang-controlled accounts, the gang would connect with cryptocurrency traders to purchase cryptocurrency, which would then be sold through overseas channels and exchanged for foreign currency, delivered to the customer’s designated overseas account, achieving illegal exchanges of "RMB - Cryptocurrency - Foreign Currency."

After obtaining detailed evidence, starting in April 2026, the Shanghai Economic Investigation Department launched a series of operations, arresting 19 criminal suspects. Currently, five suspects, including Liu, Xu, Gao, and Wang, have been approved for arrest by the procuratorial organs for suspected illegal business operations and assisting information network crime activities, while the remaining suspects have been subjected to criminal coercive measures by the police, and the case is under further investigation.

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