On Friday, September 20, after more than four hours of courtroom battle, French prosecutors requested heavy sentences for 19 men involved in a Chinese money laundering organization. In addition to fines and asset seizures, the prosecutors also demanded that all defendants are prohibited from operating any businesses.
According to reports from Agence France-Presse (AFP), the French prosecutor Adrien Jourdain, who is responsible for this money laundering case, quoted the words of the famous French novelist Zola to describe the greed of the 19 defendants, stating “Money is king, money is God, (money) is above blood, above tears.”
In April 2021, the French anti-money laundering agency Tracfin investigated two gangs who controlled numerous shell companies, laundering money between Italy, the Paris region, and Germany through banks in mainland China and Hong Kong, with a total amount exceeding 60 million euros.
The trial is expected to continue until September 27.
The Bobigny prosecutor’s office near Paris requested on Friday that the most serious offenders among the 19 suspects be sentenced to a maximum of seven years. These individuals were involved to varying degrees in a massive money laundering system involving Chinese wholesale merchants in Aubervilliers, France.
Over the years, Chinese traders have replaced Jewish shop owners in the Aubervilliers region of France. After the establishment of the “French-Asian International Business Center” (CIFA) in 2006, the area has become one of the largest wholesale centers in France and even in Europe. Many of the shops here are operated by Chinese people and have been dubbed by law enforcement agencies as the “nerve center of money laundering.”
During the hearing on Friday, several defendants claimed that they fell into a scam of exchanging fake invoices for cash during the Covid-19 pandemic, which the prosecutors strongly refuted.
The prosecutor believes the 37-year-old suspect Keqiang Z is the true mastermind behind this money laundering system, but Keqiang Z shifted most of the blame onto another suspect, Djamal C, who passed away from Covid-19 in September 2021.
Keqiang Z immigrated to France from China at the age of 12 and had worked at CIFA. His excuses for shirking responsibility were criticized by the prosecutor Jourdain.
The prosecutor requested a seven-year prison sentence, a fine of 2.5 million euros, and a five-year ban from leaving French territory for Keqiang Z.
Another accused individual, Chérif H, aged 45, is considered the financial fraud “heir” of the deceased Djamal C. The prosecutor requested a six-year prison term for Chérif H, including three years of secure detention, a fine of 1.8 million euros, and a requirement to stay in France for another five years after the detention ends. Jourdain explained, “I do not want him to run to Dubai after serving his sentence to enjoy his hidden wealth.”
The court accused Chérif H, aged 45, and another suspect Mehdi B of operating a money laundering company and laundering 37.6 million euros between January 2020 and April 2023. Mehdi B is believed to have possibly fled to Morocco, and the prosecutor requested a six-year prison term for him.
Another defendant is a young manager of a recycling company who was involved in laundering 6 million euros. This 30-year-old led a “luxurious lifestyle” as a result, and the prosecutor requested a five-year prison term, including 18 months suspended, and issued a deferred delivery order.
Another accused individual, Rémi P, was also sentenced to five years in prison, including two years suspended, and a deferred custody order. Rémi P was a part-time bank employee at BRED at the time of the incident. The prosecutor said, “As a bank employee, you should be at the forefront of the fight against money laundering, you should be vigilant, but you have committed money laundering, which is unacceptable.”
In the trend of Chinese tycoons investing in French vineyards, Chinese tycoon and head of Dalian Haichang Group, Qu Naijie, who was praised by the French media as the “largest Chinese buyer of Bordeaux vineyards”, was found guilty of money laundering in France on May 15 this year. His 9 Bordeaux vineyards were confiscated, he was fined 1 million euros, and given a three-year suspended sentence.
According to the charges, Qu Naijie allegedly misappropriated a 32 million euro overseas technology subsidy granted by the Liaoning and Dalian municipal governments to Haichang Group, and bought 25 vineyards over five years. Qu Naijie used shell companies to disguise the source of funds.
Last year, French-Chinese businessman Chen Wei from Wenzhou unexpectedly became a key figure in several major money laundering cases in France.
According to a report by Le Monde in November 2023, Chen was involved in money laundering for Parisian real estate developers, mainland Chinese real estate tycoons, directors of automotive equipment manufacturers, a security company, and a national franchised bakery company.
His clients also included executives of major French sports equipment chain Decathlon Groupe, and Fnac Darty, the second largest e-commerce platform in France, among others. Additionally, he provided “services” to foreign millionaires.
In a 2012 investigation, the French anti-money laundering agency found that a family-owned Chinese restaurant in the Paris region had a turnover of up to 10 million euros in just 9 months.
The reason this Chinese family restaurant was investigated is that despite being a small family-run Chinese restaurant, they managed to serve 2,000 customers a day, and a vast majority of payments were in meal vouchers with no cash or bank account records. This raised suspicions within the judicial department.