New Forms of Occupational Crimes in the Era of Encryption Assets

In our country's criminal law system, "occupational crimes" are not a single crime but a general term for various criminal behaviors. These crimes are usually committed by staff members of state organs, state-owned enterprises, public institutions, or people's organizations, involving behaviors such as embezzlement, bribery, favoritism, abuse of power, and negligence. These actions infringe on citizens' rights and undermine the state's regulations on public activities, and should be subject to criminal penalties according to the law.

With the rise of encryption assets, some criminals have begun to use them as covert tools for the transfer of benefits. Recently, several cases of occupational crimes involving encryption assets have attracted widespread attention.

Recent Major Cryptocurrency-Related Occupational Crime Cases

High-ranking officials of the Securities Regulatory Commission involved in a cryptocurrency case

Not long ago, the former director of the Technology Supervision Department of the Securities Regulatory Commission was investigated for serious violations of discipline and law. This official abused regulatory power to seek improper benefits for others in aspects such as information technology system services and procurement, and used virtual currency for power-for-money transactions. According to my country's criminal law, this official may be suspected of bribery. The standard for filing bribery cases is usually 30,000 yuan, and the sentencing varies according to the amount involved.

Beijing 140 million yuan virtual currency embezzlement case

Between 2020 and 2021, an employee named Feng from a certain technology company took advantage of his position and conspired with others to defraud the company of over 140 million yuan in bonus money. Subsequently, they transferred the criminal proceeds through multiple overseas virtual currency trading platforms and "mixers". After the incident, Feng voluntarily returned 92 bitcoins, recovering over 89 million yuan of the stolen funds.

Since Feng is not a staff member of a state organ, his actions are suspected of "embezzlement." According to the latest regulations, the filing standard for embezzlement is over 30,000 yuan. The sentencing standards vary based on the amount involved in the case, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and fines.

Key Information on Cryptocurrency-related Job Crimes

These cases reveal some characteristics of current cryptocurrency-related occupational crimes.

1. The investigative techniques of law enforcement agencies have significantly improved. Even if criminals use multiple trading platforms and mixers, their criminal activities are still difficult to escape the law. Existing mixing technologies can only increase the difficulty of investigation but cannot completely avoid detection.

2. The work of recovering stolen assets still mainly relies on the cooperation of the criminal suspects. Encryption assets have their uniqueness; if they are transferred abroad or stored in cold wallets, the difficulty of recovery increases significantly. Therefore, the suspects' proactive return of the stolen assets is crucial for mitigating losses.

Conclusion

With the development of the encryption asset market and its integration with the traditional financial system, it is expected that encryption assets may become a more common tool in occupational crimes in the future. This requires law enforcement agencies to strengthen their understanding and technical reserves regarding encryption assets. At the same time, public officials and corporate executives should also remain vigilant, recognizing that encryption assets are not a "magic bullet" to evade the law, and must not harbor any illusions about crossing legal boundaries.