Man Sentenced to 10 Months in Prison for Assisting Illegal Currency Exchange and Cryptocurrency Team Management as Company Owner Flees to Cambodia

According to ChainCatcher, citing a report from Lianhe Zaobao, a 34-year-old man, Xie Jiajie, knowingly assisted his boss Liu Hanquan in managing a team and handling cryptocurrency exchanges, despite being aware that Liu was operating an unlicensed money-changing business. In just 23 days, he processed 430 transactions totaling over 35 million yuan. Xie was arrested during a police raid and sentenced to 10 months in prison. He faced two charges under the Payment Services Act and one charge under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. He had earlier pleaded guilty to one of the charges, with the remaining charges to be considered by the judge during sentencing on June 26.

It is understood that Sir Money Changer (SMC) is a licensed family business providing currency exchange and cross-border remittance services, with the Mohamad couple as directors. In June 2021, SMC opened a new branch in Geylang, where Liu Hanquan proposed to pay 14,000 yuan per month to use the license and independently operate a remittance business. He recruited his own staff but used SMC’s name to pay CPF contributions, later reimbursing the related expenses. From September of the same year, Liu began operating the business, which included cross-border remittances and Tether (USDT) transactions, but he did not report to the Monetary Authority of Singapore or submit transaction records. After the case was uncovered, Liu fled to Cambodia and emptied his cryptocurrency wallet. He remains at large.