A string of recent corruption cases in China has a common thread: allegations that bribes were paid and received through stablecoins, Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported on May 4.
Those implicated include Hu Henghua, the former Chongqing mayor; Luo Lin, the former party secretary of Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area; and Lin Xiucheng, chairman of San’an Group, described as China’s “LED king,” the report said.
According to the report, Hu was brought down on March 20 for serious disciplinary violations and was later dismissed over allegations he took bribes via stablecoins. Investigators found he received about $30.8 million worth of the dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT), it said. The funds were later moved through overseas exchanges and transferred to a cold wallet, according to the report.
The bribes were said to have been provided by San’an Group, a leading company in Xiamen, Fujian province. Lin and his son, Lin Kechuang, allegedly paid in exchange for Hu’s support tied to the group’s business, the report said. Hu was also said to have publicly backed San’an projects and supported the business.
Luo, who fell around the same period, was also dismissed over allegations of taking $15.5 million worth of USDT and laundering money using stablecoins, the report said.
Stablecoins are crypto assets designed to track the value of fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar, limiting price swings. The report said their speed and difficulty of tracing can make them attractive for bribes and illegal transfers.
Ming Pao said bribery involving stablecoins and other virtual assets is emerging as a new front in China’s anti-corruption drive. In 2024, Yao Qian, former head of the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute and a key figure in the digital yuan policy push, was brought down on corruption allegations. Investigators found he took about 2,000 ether, worth about 60 million yuan, in exchange for helping a cryptocurrency company list overseas, the report said. Authorities tracked the flow of funds using blockchain technology and uncovered the case, it added.
The case was also featured earlier this year in an anti-corruption documentary jointly produced by the publicity department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and China Central Television, titled “Never Stop, Never Retreat.” The documentary warned that new forms of corruption are emerging alongside advances in virtual-asset technology.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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