Inter-provincial freezing of bank accounts? Currency circle users must read.

Original title: Original｜Inter-provincial freeze? Must-read for SMEs

Regarding the reasons why bank accounts in the currency circle are always frozen by the public security organs and the legal relief channels, Sister Sa’s team has previously shared (see "Playing virtual currency, how to deal with frozen cards in different places?" on April 9, 2021), this issue Legal Questions and Answers continues to talk about this topic with you for your reference.

Q: There may be only part of the money in a bank account suspected of money laundering, fraud and other fund flows. Is it reasonable for the investigative agency to freeze all funds in the account?

A: Before it is found that it has nothing to do with the criminal case, it is not in violation of the current legal provisions for the public security organs to freeze all funds in the bank card. According to Articles 144 and 145 of my country's "Criminal Procedure Law", after a criminal case is filed, the public security organs and procuratorial organs may, according to the needs of the investigation of the crime, inquire and freeze the criminal suspect's information. Relevant units and individuals should cooperate with deposits, remittances, bonds, stocks, fund shares, and other properties, and if it is found to be irrelevant to the case, the freeze should be lifted within three days and returned.

SBF claims that there is only $100,000 in his bank account, and his personal financial situation may be negative: According to news on November 30, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) said in an interview that his personal financial situation may be negative , but not sure because the last time he checked his bank account, he found $100,000 left in it. He added: "It's complicated. Basically everything I do has to do with the company. It is reported that SBF's personal wealth once reached 26.5 billion US dollars.

Regulation and proper oversight could have helped protect FTX from collapse, SBF said. “At some point, I certainly wish there was someone other than me managing conflicts of interest,” he said, responding to the bankruptcy court’s charge that he ran FTX like a personal fiefdom. (Axios) [2022/11/30 21:11:59]

However, it is especially important to note that Article 6 of the "Regulations on the Management of Property Involved in Cases by Public Security Organs" and Article 4 of the "Regulations on the Management of Property Involved in Criminal Procedures of the People's Procuratorate" clearly require that property irrelevant to the case must not be sealed up, seized, or frozen. The sealed up, seized and frozen properties should be reviewed in a timely manner.

Nigerian central bank freezes foreign exchange platform bank accounts and asks court to investigate its financial activities: On August 25, Nigerian foreign exchange trading platforms condemned the country's central bank for recent actions that have resulted in them being unable to access millions of dollars in their bank accounts. According to previous news, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has asked the court to freeze his account and investigate financial activities in Nigeria, claiming that they are engaged in illegal foreign exchange and that some services provided are not authorized. (coingeek) [2021/8/25 22:36:03]

Q: In addition to the legal provisions mentioned above, what are the relevant legal bases for freezing bank cards in criminal cases in my country at present?

A: Article 23 of the "Supervision Law" stipulates that: The supervisory organ investigates serious duty violations or duty crimes such as corruption and bribery, dereliction of duty, etc., and may, according to work needs, inquire and freeze deposits, remittances, and bonds of the units and individuals involved in the case. , stocks, fund shares and other properties. Relevant units and individuals should cooperate. If the frozen property is found to be irrelevant to the case, it shall be unfrozen and returned within three days after the finding.

News | New French encryption law grants blockchain companies the right to open bank accounts: The new French encryption law "PACTE" will grant blockchain startups the right to open bank accounts, provided they choose to be regulated. Domitille Dessertine, head of the AMF’s Fintech Innovation and Competitiveness Unit, said the “strong feedback” from crypto players on banking needs matched the firm consensus among French authorities to eliminate “banking ties.” The French government and lawmakers “are very supportive of this right, as long as you are regulated, you have the right to open a bank account.” Dessertine explained that the framework will be operational after the publication of the executive decree, which will be implemented in the next few months. In addition, the new regulations encourage French private equity or venture capital funds to participate more in ICO tokens, allowing them to invest up to 20% of their assets under management (AUM) in crypto assets. (Coindesk)[2019/4/29]

The "Interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law" uses a special chapter, Chapter 18, to deal with the property involved in the case, and to make provisions on freezing the deposits of criminal suspects. Article 237 of the "Regulations on the Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs" and Article 212 of the "Criminal Procedure Rules of the People's Procuratorate" Article 15 has been detailed, respectively clarifying the control rights of the public security organs and procuratorial organs over the property involved in the case at different stages.

Dynamics | London company launches new payment service that enables cryptocurrency payments to bank accounts: According to bitcoin.com, a London-based company has announced the launch of Aave Pay, a payment service that can help increase the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, allowing users to send or Use cryptocurrency, convert it to fiat and transfer it to the recipient's bank account. Users can also send money to family and friends and pay utility bills, and businesses can use the service to pay employee salaries and income taxes. Other business or corporate expenses can also be converted into cryptocurrencies and sent to fiat-based accounts. [2019/2/28]

The General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Regulating the Disposal of Property Involved in Criminal Procedures" in 2015, which made principles for further regulating the seizure, seizure, freezing, storage, return before trial, and prior disposal of property involved in cases. sex requirements.

Q: What is the scope of the property involved?

A: There are no specific provisions in the Criminal Law, the Criminal Procedure Law, and the Interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law regarding what is the property involved in the case. Several Provisions of Public Security Organs on the Management of Property Involved in Cases and the Provisions of the People's Procuratorate on the Management of Property Involved in Criminal Proceedings have basically similar provisions on the scope of property involved in criminal proceedings. According to Article 2 of the "Several Provisions on the Management of Case-Involved Property by Public Security Organs", the term "case-involved property" as mentioned in these regulations refers to the property that the public security organ adopts in accordance with the law to seal up, seize, freeze, detain, transfer, and register in advance in the process of handling criminal cases and administrative cases. Items, documents and funds related to the case that are extracted or fixed by measures such as preservation, sampling for evidence, recovery, and confiscation, as well as items, documents and funds received from other units and individuals, including: (1) illegal and criminal proceeds and their fruits; Tools for committing illegal and criminal acts; (3) illegally held obscene materials, drugs and other contraband; (4) other items and documents that can prove the occurrence of illegal and criminal acts and the seriousness of illegal and criminal acts.

However, the above provisions are still based on strong principles, and two issues are not clear: first, how to determine "related to the case"? How strong does this correlation need to be? In practice, the determination of the property involved in the case is sometimes relatively arbitrary. Second, it only emphasizes the disposal of property that has been sealed up, seized, frozen, detained, and received items, but does not provide regulations on how to deal with other property involved in the case that has not been grasped by the public security organs. Obviously, limiting the scope of the property involved in the case to the property that has been controlled is too narrow.

Q: If the bank account is illegally frozen, is it entitled to apply for state compensation?

A: If measures such as freezing property are taken in violation of the law and cause property loss to the owner, they may be compensated according to Article 18 of the "National Compensation Law" "Organs exercising the powers of investigation, prosecution, and trial, as well as detention centers, prison management agencies and their staff In the event of any of the following violations of property rights when exercising powers, the victim has the right to obtain compensation: (1) Taking measures such as sealing up, detaining, freezing, and recovering property in violation of the provisions of ", apply to the relevant agencies for state compensation.

As for the time to file a claim for compensation, according to Article 7 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the National Compensation Law of the People's Republic of China (1), the claim for compensation should be made after the conclusion of the criminal procedure, but there is evidence If it is proved that it has nothing to do with the criminal case that has not been concluded, it can be raised in the criminal procedure.

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