District Court rejected Xiao Rui’s Bitcoin-sale defense and false-document excuse after finding more than HK$64 million flowed through his accounts via underground banking channels before sentencing on July 23.
Hong Kong's District Court found Xiao Rui guilty on four counts of money laundering and one count of using a false document after concluding that more than HK$64 million moved through his bank accounts via underground banking channels over nearly a decade. The court rejected Xiao's claim that some of the money came from selling Bitcoin after he failed to provide records such as transaction dates, reference numbers or wallet addresses, and also dismissed his account that the funds were gifts from his mother. Prosecutors said about 38 transactions between March 2014 and November 2023 flowed into Xiao's personal accounts from at least 12 companies and 12 individuals with no business ties to his asset management firm. The case also covered Xiao's 2013 application for Hong Kong residency under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme using fake China Construction Bank deposit certificates, after which he was approved in 2014 and used his HSBC account to buy two fund products worth HK$10 million. Sentencing is scheduled for July 23, while the Independent Commission Against Corruption is seeking confiscation of the criminal proceeds.