Author: CCTV.com

Supervisor: Li Shaofei

Editor: Shan Jingyu

Proofreader: Meng Xia

Source: CCTV News

The television documentary "No Step Back, No Retreat," co-produced by the Publicity Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission and the Central Radio and Television Station, aired its fourth episode "Technology Empowers Anti-Corruption" on January 14 at 8 PM on CCTV's comprehensive channel, with simultaneous release on CCTV News' new media platform.

In addition to spatial isolation both domestically and internationally, and physical isolation online and offline, these have also become means for current corrupt individuals to attempt to conceal their corrupt behaviors. Gold, cash, and valuable items are common carriers of power-money transactions in traditional corruption cases. However, with the advent of the digital age, virtual currencies, relying on blockchain technology, have developed continuously, presenting a new form of corruption that must be monitored closely.

These are key pieces of evidence seized in a case involving a leading official's disciplinary violations and illegal activities. Some look like mobile phones, some like USB drives, and some like remote controls. In fact, they are all different styles of hardware wallets used to store and manage virtual currencies. These three seemingly inconspicuous little "wallets" contain virtual currencies with a total estimated value equivalent to tens of millions of RMB. Those who accepted bribes in this manner once harbored a sense of luck, believing they were sufficiently concealed.

Yao Qian, former director of the Technology Supervision Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission: To be honest, you know this is a sneaky behavior; how can you do it? You just thought it would be hard to find evidence before.

Yao Qian, former director of the Technology Supervision Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and former director of the Information Center, previously served as the head of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China and was placed under investigation in April 2024. The disciplinary inspection and supervision team stationed at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, in conjunction with the Shantou Municipal Supervisory Committee of Guangdong Province, formed a special investigation team to handle this case. From the beginning, the special investigation team conducted in-depth analysis based on Yao Qian's characteristics.

Zou Rong, staff member of the disciplinary inspection and supervision team stationed at the China Securities Regulatory Commission: Supervision of this person requires a profile. He has a relatively long work experience in digital currency; is there also a corruption issue involving the use of virtual currency for power-money transactions behind this? In the practice of anti-corruption in the capital market, new types of corruption and hidden corruption issues are quite prominent.

As the investigation deepened, the initial judgment of the special investigation team was confirmed. Several large power-money transactions by Yao Qian were conducted using new types of corruption and hidden corruption methods, including the acceptance of virtual currencies. Virtual currencies are just a string of numbers on the internet, completely separated from the identity of the holder and entirely isolated from the commercial banking and payment institution systems. They can be freely traded on the blockchain, cross-border without geographical restrictions, making them highly concealed and difficult to regulate. However, the special investigation team was well-prepared from the start, learning a large amount of professional knowledge to deeply understand the operational mechanisms of virtual currencies and pinpoint the key points for investigation.

Zou Rong: Holders mainly control the virtual currencies on the blockchain address through private keys. This private key consists of a long string of characters, which is not easy to remember, so generally, a hardware wallet is used for safekeeping.

Cai Kunting, staff member of the Shantou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision: During the search, we need to grasp two items: the first is whether there is a hardware wallet; the second is whether there are any notes with random mnemonic phrases written on them, which are crucial during the search.

Indeed, the special investigation team seized a hardware wallet from a drawer in Yao Qian's office. At the same time, the special investigation team strictly followed regulations and laws, fully utilizing big data information technology to conduct a comprehensive investigation of Yao Qian's relevant circumstances, and also discovered related traces. According to the legally obtained account information, although Yao Qian's personal account showed no obvious abnormalities, big data cross-checking revealed several bank accounts opened under other people's identities, which were actually "dummy accounts" controlled by Yao Qian. By tracing the large sums of money flowing in and out of these "dummy accounts," a sum of 10 million RMB was traced back to a significant discovery.

Zou Rong: During the preliminary investigation, we also discovered an abnormal inflow of 10 million RMB into Yao Qian's account. After about four layers of tracing, we ultimately confirmed that it should be funds from a virtual currency trader's account.

The investigation found that shortly after the 10 million RMB reached Yao Qian's "dummy account," it was used to pay part of the purchase price for a villa in Beijing. This villa, priced over 20 million RMB, was registered under the name of a relative of Yao Qian, but was actually owned by Yao Qian, with all the purchase funds coming from Yao Qian's "dummy account." In addition to this 10 million RMB, there were two other large inflows totaling 12 million RMB, which were also used to pay for the property. Tracing the source of this 12 million RMB revealed that its origins were similarly complex.

Shi Changping, staff member of the Shantou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision: He believed that after setting up layers of barriers, it would be more isolated. But conversely, the people and evidence that will come to prove this issue or that issue will be more numerous and more substantial.

The special investigation team penetrated through layers of "smoke and mirrors," conducting in-depth investigations and evidence collection, and locked onto the source of this 12 million RMB. This money came from an information service company controlled by businessman Wang, and it was discovered that Yao Qian used his power to assist this company in providing technological services in the securities and futures industry, forming a complete evidence chain for the 12 million RMB benefit transfer.

Wang also revealed that a key intermediary in this power-money transaction was named Jiang Guoqing, who was Yao Qian's subordinate and had a very close relationship with Yao Qian. The special investigation team immediately took measures to detain Jiang Guoqing, and investigations revealed that he had participated in nearly every large power-money transaction involving Yao Qian, especially when Yao Qian accepted virtual currency bribes, Jiang Guoqing was always involved.

Involved person Jiang Guoqing: Originally, it was intended to be handed over through me, but later I thought about it and was afraid of causing trouble, so I set up a transfer address, and then the currency was sent to the transfer address and then transferred to Yao Qian's personal wallet. I knew this was a benefit transfer; I was scared, and I also knew this was wrong.

Jiang Guoqing followed Yao Qian to the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China and the Technology Department of the CSRC, being both a trusted aide of Yao Qian and a pawn on Yao Qian's path of corruption. Many business owners who engaged in power-money transactions with Yao Qian were introduced or had their requests conveyed by Jiang Guoqing, who also took a cut in the process.

In 2018, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur named Zhang solicited Yao Qian through Jiang Guoqing to assist with his company's token issuance financing project. Yao Qian accepted the request and contacted a certain virtual currency exchange to help the company successfully issue tokens, raising 20,000 Ether. Subsequently, Zhang presented Yao Qian with 2,000 Ether as a thank-you gift, which at its peak was valued at over 60 million RMB. The reason Yao Qian's intervention was effective was naturally related to his influential position.

Jiang Guoqing: Yao Qian has a significant influence in the industry because of his position.

To further solidify the evidence chain, the special investigation team attempted to restore the entire chain of Yao Qian's acceptance of virtual currency through blockchain technology.

Zou Rong: Virtual currencies are concealed, and at the same time, they are a double-edged sword; they have dual characteristics because they also have the feature of being publicly traceable across the entire network. This means that anyone can check the records of any blockchain address's inflow and outflow at any time, which is determined by the decentralized nature of blockchain, so it also has a public aspect.

The special investigation team utilized blockchain technology to trace the flow chain of 2,000 Ether from Zhang's Ether wallet address to Yao Qian's Ether wallet address in 2018, as well as the complete record of Yao Qian transferring 370 Ether in 2021, which was exchanged for 10 million RMB. The special investigation team conducted electronic evidence collection in accordance with regulations and laws, achieving mutual verification of various pieces of evidence and forming a closed loop. Faced with such a solid evidence chain, Yao Qian had no choice but to admit his disciplinary violations and illegal activities.

In November 2024, Yao Qian was expelled from the Party and public office and transferred to the procuratorial organ for legal review and prosecution. The successful handling of this case has accumulated experience for disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies in addressing bribery issues involving virtual currencies. Although virtual currencies seem intangible, once one attempts to use them in the real world, they can no longer maintain their virtual state and will inevitably "materialize" somewhere. The villa purchased by Yao Qian became the "revelation agent" that exposed him; the layers of intricate schemes he painstakingly laid out ultimately could not escape being penetrated. When Yao Qian was detained, the villa's decoration was still incomplete, but he was already unable to move in.

Zou Rong: Virtual currency is useless if not cashed out; it is just a string of numbers. When virtual assets finally turn into real assets, they are easily exposed.

Using virtual currencies to conceal corrupt gains is just one method of new and hidden corruption. Under the high-pressure situation of anti-corruption, regardless of how corrupt methods innovate or how hidden they become, as long as the essential characteristic of power-money transactions is firmly grasped, and strict adherence to regulations and laws is maintained, fully utilizing big data and other information technologies, increasing identification and investigation efforts, and continuously enriching effective prevention and control measures, any form of corruption will have nowhere to hide.

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