Judicial guidance shows how to handle cases of concealment or disguise of illicit gains

China has pledged to continue intensifying efforts to combat the crime of concealing or disguising illicit gains to maintain judicial order, ensure financial security and safeguard people's property.

On Monday, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly released a judicial interpretation on handling criminal cases involving the concealment or disguising of illegal proceeds, addressing public concerns and emerging issues in the field.

"In crimes related to money laundering, the concealment or disguising of illicit proceeds is the most frequent in legal practice, and it is also closely associated with downstream crimes such as telecom fraud and online gambling," Luo Guoliang, chief judge of the SPC's Fourth Criminal Division, told a news conference.

He cited data showing that Chinese courts concluded 220,900 first-instance cases involving the concealment or disguise of criminal proceeds from 2020 to 2024. "The handling of such cases has played a big role in fighting against telecom fraud and online gambling," he said.

However, he revealed that with economic and social development, the methods used to conceal or disguise criminal proceeds have become more covert and tend to involve organized groups.

"To help prosecutors and judges crack down on such offenses more efficiently and combat upstream crimes more accurately, we've formulated the judicial interpretation," he added.

According to the 12-article legal document, determining what constitutes the concealment or disguise of criminal proceeds should be based on a comprehensive assessment, rather than solely focusing on the amount involved.

For example, the interpretation stipulates that those who refuse to return illegal proceeds or repeatedly commit the crime, causing significant losses to public or private property, should be severely punished.

In cases where the amount of illicit gains involved is large but has little connection to upstream crimes and the actual harm is minimal, judicial authorities can show leniency.