Seven people have been jailed for operating a £55m money-laundering ring targeting Chinese university students in the UK. The scheme helped students bypass China's strict foreign currency controls, which limit personal transfers to $50,000 (£38,000) per year.
Sentences ranging from 11 months to 12 years were handed down at Snaresbrook Crown Court. Four were sentenced on Monday, following three others in June. The ring operated between February 2020 and June 2023, using underground banking methods.
Police discovered the operation after searching addresses in London and Manchester. At one property in Canary Wharf, officers found over £104,000 hidden in a wardrobe. Another address yielded multiple cash-counting machines and nearly £500,000 in seized assets.
The group used a Chinese messaging app to sell British pounds to students, bypassing exchange limits. Couriers collected large sums—sometimes up to £250,000—without knowing the identities of those providing the cash, using a photo of a £5 note's serial number as a handover signal.
Detective Constable Zach Rowe of the Met Police said: 'The sheer scale of this laundering will generate crimes such as illegal drug supply, prostitution, human trafficking and more.' He added that the three-year investigation demonstrated the force's commitment to disrupting complex economic crime.
Benn Maguire, lead counsel from QEB Hollis Whiteman, stated: 'This successful prosecution has eviscerated the criminal operation, preventing those involved in crime from profiting from their wrongdoing.'
