Phnom Penh: The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia warned Chinese citizens in Cambodia on July 17, 2021, not to use “high exchange rate” services to remit money to China through illegal channels.
The Chinese Embassy stated that recently some domestic bank accounts of Chinese citizens in Cambodia have been frozen by the public security authorities, after remittance payments have been made through underground banks or remittance companies that are not approved by the Chinese regulatory authorities. Some Chinese citizens in Cambodia use their own or relatives’ domestic accounts to carry out remittance and transfer money for others, and withdraw commissions from them. These actions may not only cause economic losses to the parties, but may also cause consequences such as poor personal credit records, being included in the money laundering blacklist by the national regulatory authority, and even constitute financial crimes.
The Chinese Embassy stated that relevant Chinese laws clearly stipulate that companies that provide remittance and exchange services illegally, engage in payment and settlement of funds or buy and sell foreign exchange, commit crimes under illegal business operation laws.
The conduct of remittances or foreign exchange transactions through such company accounts is also a participation in criminal activities. After handling cases of telecommunications network fraud and online gambling, the public security organs cracked down on the capital chains of underground banks and criminal groups, and frozen accounts involved in the case in accordance with the law.
Some Chinese citizens are greedy for “high exchange rates” to remit money domestically through illegal channels, which often leads to the receiving accounts being linked to the money laundering chain of criminal groups and thus becoming accounts of interest in criminal cases.
