Yiwu businessman "frozen" in the bank card
The telecommunications network fraud criminal group laundered the stolen money in the form of payment, resulting in the freezing of Yiwu business bank accounts by public security agencies in many places; Yiwu established a "bank account freezing assistance center" to communicate and deal with
The Yiwu Bank Account Freezing Assistance Center opened at the end of 2020.
On April 16, the second district of Yiwu International Trade City.
Yiwu International Trade City has 70,000 shops and nearly 200,000 employees, many of which are caught in the "frozen card storm".
A06-A07 edition photography/Beijing News reporter Zhou Siya
In April of this year, He Yun's bank account was identified as the account involved in the case.
On April 14th, I came to the assistance center to inquire about business accounts with bank card freezing issues.
He Yun, a 35-year-old business owner in Yiwu, has always been worrisome recently. Her foreign trade business has encountered an "unsolvable knot".
Starting in September 2020, her three bank cards were frozen after the customer entered the payment. In April of this year, her account was listed as an account involved in telecommunications fraud by the foreign police and then closed.
In Yiwu, there are many operators like He Yun.
In April 2021, an "Yiwu Police Open Letter" brought the frozen card crisis in this international commodity city into the public eye.
In 2020, when the new crown epidemic broke out, foreign businessmen could not enter Yiwu. At the same time, due to the "domestic trade" of foreign trade in Yiwu's trade system, Yiwu self-employed households in the process of foreign trade received payment mainly in RMB, and related foreign companies Merchants are accustomed to paying settlement payments through underground banks.
The telecommunications network fraud criminal group colluded with the underground bank to directly turn the fraudulent funds into ready-made payment to the business operators for laundering, resulting in frequent freezing of the bank accounts of the business operators in Yiwu by the public security organs across the country.
According to statistics, there are currently more than 7,000 foreign trade business operators in Uzbekistan who have registered bank card freeze information at the assistance center. It is estimated that the number of local business operators suffering from the card freeze crisis has reached tens of thousands.
At the end of 2020, the Yiwu Municipal Government urgently dispatched the Yiwu Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Yiwu Municipal Public Security Bureau, China Commodity Group and other departments to temporarily set up the "Bank Account Freezing Assistance Center" to sort out the information on frozen accounts of registered merchants and dispatch more than 40 working groups to the country All localities communicate and coordinate the issue of bank card unfreezing.
Yan Lixin, associate professor of the School of Economics and Financial Research Institute of Fudan University, and executive director of the China Anti-Money Laundering Research Center, said that from the perspective of the government and law enforcement agencies, while severely cracking down on crimes, it is necessary to minimize accidental injuries as much as possible to ensure the seriousness of law enforcement. Sexuality can also reflect the government’s compassion towards merchants.
The country can explore a settlement platform that is suitable for Yiwu's characteristic market and can be included in the scope of supervision to adapt to the highly developed Yiwu foreign trade market.
freeze
From the map, the serpentine shop of Yiwu International Trade City, located on the northeast side of Yiwu, is surrounded by Yiwu Futian Wetland Park.
It is also called "Futian Market" by the locals in Yiwu, with 70,000 shops and nearly 200,000 employees.
He Yun owns a 5-square-meter store in the first corner of the third phase of Futian Market.
There are densely packed zippers of different styles on the three walls of the store.
More than ten years ago, He Yun began to engage in international trade after graduating from University.
Together with my husband, I contracted a zipper manufacturing plant and became a supplier in the foreign trade link.
Relying on his English major and Yiwu's unique foreign trade environment, He Yun has established long-term cooperative relations with many foreign merchants, and the zippers he produces are mainly sold to South Asian countries.
Affected by the epidemic, a large number of foreign factories were shut down in 2020, and Chinese factories quickly resumed production after the epidemic was controlled. With the customers accumulated in previous years, He Yun ushered in the peak of his foreign trade business in 2020.
It should have been a year when business continued to go uphill, but starting from March 2020, He Yun's bank account has often been frozen. Sometimes, a card has even been frozen by the police in multiple places at the same time.
After communicating with the public security department, I learned that the funds in these accounts contained funds involved in telecom fraud.
As of April 2021, He Yun's three bank cards with a total of about 600,000 yuan in payment have been frozen.
Like He Yun, Mao Qingqing, the person in charge of a foreign trade company, frequently encountered the problem of bank card freezing in 2020.
Mao Qingqing said that her foreign trade import and export company exports daily necessities, and its customers are mainly from West African countries.
Around March 2020, Mao Qingqing’s bank accounts frequently experienced freezing issues. Mao Qingqing used six bank cards of herself and her family to receive payments from foreign customers, and all six cards were frozen.
Mao Qingqing went to the bank counter to withdraw cash, and there was a long line in front of the bank counter every day, "Everyone is a foreign trade business operator who is at any time facing the risk of bank accounts being frozen to withdraw cash." Up to now, Mao Qingqing's 6 cards total about 700,000. The payment is frozen.
In Yiwu, groups of business households whose bank accounts have been frozen, like He Yun and Mao Qingqing, call each other "frozen friends." By the end of 2020, the number of unfrozen mutual help WeChat groups composed of these frozen friends has been increasing, and the group size of 500 people is in the order of magnitude. The staff will be full within a day, and the freezing friends share their account freezing experiences in the WeChat group, and keep a group warm.
"If this person does not have a few bank cards frozen, then he must not do foreign trade." Yiwu foreign trade circle circulated this self-ridicule of foreign trade operators.
Thawing
On the afternoon of April 15th, in front of the counter of Yiwu Bank Account Freezing Assistance Center on the second floor of Yiwu International Trade Service Center, there was an endless stream of business accounts who came to inquire about the issue of bank account freezing.
In just two hours, a business account registration form with frozen bank accounts on the counter was filled with various information.
The one-square-meter granite table top is full of appeal guides and materials needed for thawing prepared by the assistance center for business operators.
"Why bank accounts are frozen?" "Why is an account frozen by public security in many places?" "How to unfreeze?" "What should I do in the future?" The ensuing business owners kept throwing around a male staff member in front of the counter. Something went wrong. Near the evening, the staff member's voice was almost hoarse, and the thermos cup he held in his hand seldom had the opportunity to open the whole afternoon.
Most business operators said that their business has stagnated after multiple bank cards were frozen, and even daily meals and electronic payments have become problems.
The assistance center staff explained that the national banking system is connected to the public security system. After the direct victims of telecom fraud report the case across the country, the local police tracked the victims’ money and remotely frozen the accounts of the funds flowing into them.
Regarding why the same account of the business operator was frozen by the police in multiple places, the staff explained that the money of the victims of telecommunications fraud in different regions may flow into the same account after the operation of the underground bank and the telecommunications fraud group, resulting in one account Frozen by the police in many places.
Many merchants are often faced with a complicated situation where the public security in one place has thawed and the public security has continued to freeze in the other place.
A policeman surnamed Huang from a police station in southwestern China told reporters that the freezing of the bank cards of Yiwu foreign trade merchants was related to the severe crackdown on telecommunication fraud by the public security organs.
After the victim reports to the police, the public security organs will automatically lock the flow of the stolen money and freeze the primary and secondary accounts involved in the stolen money in order to prevent the further flow of the stolen money.
Jin Wen, the person in charge of a foreign trade company, told reporters that his company has been cooperating with foreign businessmen in the Middle East for a long time.
Since the end of 2019, the 12 bank accounts used by his company to receive payment for goods totaling more than 2 million payment have been frozen one after another.
Jin Wen said that after submitting business licenses, warehouse receipts, and order contracts to the police in other places, he was still faced with a choice: the bank account could be unfrozen only after the amount involved in the case was turned in, and each business account’s bank card contained The amount involved in the case ranges from several thousand yuan to several tens of thousands yuan.
"The money is the payment that the customer called us, but it is frozen here. Now the suppliers in the market are waiting for the payment and need to continue to pay the raw material factories..." Jin Wen said that he was only the payment for the goods. Dealers, a payment involves not only one’s own foreign trade company, but also a series of factories on the production line. He does not have the right to decide to turn it in. If the money is turned in, who should bear the payment? Payment?
"I also hope that the victims of telecommunications fraud can retrieve their defrauded money, but the frozen money is our legitimate trade payment. Why do we have to pay the shipment payment to bear the consequences?" Jin Wen said.
The operator Ms. Guo said that after her card was frozen, she was unable to pay for a series of expenses such as factory material costs, worker wages, credit card repayment, water bills, electricity bills, etc., and her life fell into chaos.
"We really hate lawbreakers," He Yun said. She is well aware of the various risks in the foreign trade industry, but in her opinion, as long as she is "willing to work hard and not afraid of hardship", things can be solved easily, but this time the bank card The freezing storm has become an "unsolvable knot" in his business, and He Yun bluntly said that he is already unable to make any progress.
"I have been in the foreign trade industry for more than ten years and have experienced industry turmoil, but this is the most difficult one. The card was frozen, the capital turnover was not open, and the factory was still open and all depended on the bottom of the house."
The assistance center staff responded that there are still a few unfrozen bank accounts.
For business households who cannot contact the police in other places, they can communicate and coordinate by the Public Security Bureau of Yiwu City through registration.
In addition, the Yiwu government attaches great importance to this matter and has sent multiple working groups to coordinate communication across the country.
A staff member of the Yiwu Municipal Bureau of Commerce said that the frozen power lies with the local police, and the working group is still actively coordinating.
The Yiwu police also stated in the open letter that it is hoped that local police will fully understand the status quo and problems of Yiwu enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households in the foreign trade industry. It is recommended to use compulsory requirements for business operators to return money, or to impose compulsory measures to impose money withholding money, and it is not recommended to use selective law enforcement activities similar to "refund or take compulsory measures" against business operators.
Yiwu model
According to data from the official website of Yiwu City Government, in 2019, Yiwu City achieved a total import and export volume of 296.78 billion yuan, an increase of 15.9%.
According to the official website of Yiwu International Trade Comprehensive Information Service Platform, Yiwu products are exported to more than 210 countries and regions in the world, with a market outward orientation of more than 65%.
The Yiwu police open letter also pointed out that Yiwu has an internationally renowned small commodity market, with more than 20,000 permanent foreign businessmen, making it a typical foreign trade city.
As a China International Trade Pilot Zone, Yiwu has a relatively relaxed business environment, which also means that Yiwu self-employed households can enjoy preferential policies given by the state when engaging in foreign trade, which promotes the vigorous development of Yiwu's foreign trade industry.
According to Mao Qingqing, Yiwu's small commodity trade has its own characteristics. Since I contacted Yiwu's foreign trade industry in 2008, foreign businessmen have always paid in RMB during the transaction.
"Yiwu itself is such a market procurement model, and it is also such a model specially approved by the state."
In 2016, the State Council approved the overall plan for the comprehensive reform pilot program of Yiwu City, making Yiwu the first comprehensive reform pilot zone for county-level cities approved by the State Council.
"The market procurement trade model is that the trading company is responsible for taking customers to purchase goods in the market, confirming the order, receiving the goods and inspecting the goods, and finally paying." Qiu Linlin, who is doing procurement in Yiwu, explained.
This trade method was created for the professional market "multi-variety, multi-batch, small-batch" foreign trade transactions, with the characteristics of fast customs clearance, convenience, and exemption of value-added tax.
The Yiwu police open letter mentioned that in the process of collecting payments in RMB, business operators in Yiwu do not have the right to choose which channel foreign businessmen choose to make payments.
Qiu Linlin said that she has been purchasing disposable goods and other goods for a customer in a South Asian country for a long time. After the procurement process is over, the customer will let the "agent" remit money to herself, "After the remittance is completed, the customer will provide me with a picture of the water bill, but the water bill The sender above is often stamped."
In the aid center’s bank account freezing promotional materials, foreign trade companies and international freight forwarding companies can take preventive freezing measures, suggesting that “exports must be collected and foreign exchange funds should be used to complete payment settlement”.
“Customers’ payment to U.S. dollars is a compliant process. For example, if one of our containers goes out, we will have a declaration form to declare with the customs, and then the declaration form shows the amount of our container, and the customer can make a payment based on the amount of the bill of lading. Corresponding US dollars." Qiu Linlin said that this method has a higher handling fee and needs to provide more information. For some customers, they will not choose this method, and she cannot decide which method the customer uses. Make money.
Mao Qingqing also pointed out her own difficulties: some countries are relatively backward and have greater difficulties in remittances.
Jin Wen also said that some countries have less dollar reserves, "it is sometimes difficult to settle in US dollars from the public to the commons."
He Yun said that in the freezing storm, many merchants have been unable to flow funds and are facing bankruptcy, and some of their foreign customers have also cancelled their cooperation with them after being required to make compliant cross-border USD remittances.
She worries that if there are no relevant policies, in the long run, this freezing storm will continue to affect the stability of the entire Yiwu foreign trade market.
"Criminals' illegal activities must not be borne by merchants"
The turmoil of bank card freezing in Yiwu has also brought my country's "card break" operation to crack down on telecommunication network fraud crimes into the public eye.
The reporter learned that in the process of telecommunications network fraud, there are often telecommunications network fraud gangs using illegally purchased bank cards to "launder money" and transfer the stolen money obtained from telecommunications fraud to the foreign trade market through collusion with underground banks, resulting in a large number of legitimate business operations. The bank card of the business account was frozen.
Since there is no need to register any personal information during the card transfer process, only the original holder's information can be traced during the investigation by the public security department. The telecommunications network fraud group successfully escaped with the money after the money laundering.
On October 10, 2020, the State Council’s inter-ministerial joint meeting decided to launch a nationwide "card break" operation to severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities involving phone cards and bank cards, and curb the high incidence of telecommunications network fraud crimes.
According to the official website of the Ministry of Public Security, since the launch of the "Card Broken" operation, as of the end of January 2021, public security organs across the country have eliminated 9013 "two card" criminal gangs and arrested 176,000 criminal suspects. The "Card Broken" operation Significant results have been achieved in stages.
Xinhua Daily Telegraph pointed out in the article "Many merchant accounts in Yiwu are frozen, fraudsters’ "pots" cannot be let back by law-abiding people", and some of the problematic funds involved in the case have flowed into the normally operating foreign trade in this storm facing the "world supermarket". The bank accounts of enterprises and individual merchants, which should have been carried by fraudsters, have caused many law-abiding merchants to "empty money". This has become a new topic of how to accurately combat telecommunication network fraud crimes and maintain a good business environment at this stage. .
On April 16th, the reporter learned from the relevant departments of Yiwu that, regarding the freezing of Yiwu foreign trade merchants' bank cards, relevant national and provincial departments have gone to Yiwu to investigate and try to resolve the issue.
A working group composed of Yiwu Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Public Security Bureau, People's Bank and other departments has traveled to 44 cities to communicate and coordinate with local public security bureaus. Various departments of Yiwu City are also actively guiding local business households to change their trading habits.
Since April, the media has successively reported this Yiwu bank card freezing storm. He Yun followed these reports and forwarded each article to his circle of friends, waiting for things to turn around.
A policeman surnamed Huang from a police station in southwestern China told reporters that they are currently investigating and handling the case that the stolen money from telecom fraud flowed into the Yiwu foreign trade market and the bank card of the business account was frozen. Will actively think of ways to unfreeze business owners, "criminals will definitely not allow these businesses to bear the illegal acts."
Yan Lixin, associate professor of the School of Economics and Financial Research Institute of Fudan University, and executive director of the China Anti-Money Laundering Research Center, believes that although there may be “incorrect injuries” throughout the law enforcement process, “from the perspective of the government and law enforcement agencies, the While fighting crimes, we must minimize accidental injuries as much as possible. This will not only ensure the seriousness of law enforcement, but also reflect the government’s compassion towards people’s livelihood and merchants.
Yan Lixin suggested that government regulatory agencies and service units can explore a settlement platform that is suitable for Yiwu's characteristic market and can be effectively included in the scope of supervision to adapt to the highly developed Yiwu foreign trade market.
In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the promotion and training of business operators to guide them to recognize and avoid money laundering traps in international trade as much as possible.
(At the request of interviewees, He Yun, Mao Qingqing, and Qiu Linlin are pseudonyms)
Beijing News reporter Zhou Siya