Seven gang members have been jailed after laundering more than £55 million through a "sophisticated" Chinese underground banking system.
Three men and one woman were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on August 19 for money laundering offences.
Three others were previously sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on June 14.
The seven were sentenced to a total of 24 years and 11 months between them.
Police officers in Stoke Newington uncovered a sophisticated international network of money laundering via a Chinese underground banking system calling itself Big Sun in the Sky.
Through data analysis and intelligence, officers discovered more than £55 million had been laundered by the group between February 2020 and June 2023.
On December 29, 2022, officers made two simultaneous raids.
While searching the first address, belonging to Xiaoyu Shu, 29, and Yin Ying Wang, 28, both of Biscayne Avenue, Canary Wharf, they found more than £104,000 in a carrier bag hidden in a wardrobe.
The second raid took place at the address of Yunchen Huang, 28, of Biscayne Avenue, Canary Wharf, where cash counting machines and money bags were discovered.
Officers seized almost £500,000 in assets from the group.
Specialist officers analysed Shu and Huang’s mobile phones, which revealed the pair were using a Chinese messaging app to sell British pounds to university students to circumnavigate foreign currency controls that limit the amount of cash that can be taken out of China per year.
The messages showed that Shu and Huang were working for a person with the user handle ‘There is a Big Sun in the Sky.’
This person arranged for the pair to collect large amounts of cash, sometimes as large as £250,000 at a time.
Shu and Huang were not told the identities of those they collected cash from, and were instructed to take a photo of a £5 bank note, including the unique serial number.
This was then passed onto the courier allowing the interaction to take place without either party knowing the identity of the other to prevent those in the chain giving information to police if they were arrested.
Officers also identified that Peng Liu, 28, and Ang Li, 26 , of Peninsula Square, Canary Wharf, were assisting the group by operating an unregistered money business.
When officers searched their address in June 2023 they located counting machines and £14,600.
Officers were then able to identify that Qiji Wang, 29, of Left Bank, Manchester, was the group leader and responsible for the handle ‘There is a Big Sun in the Sky.’
Numerous mobile phones, computers, bank cards in others' names and a cash counting machine were found at his address.
These mobile phones and computers were forensically searched by officers and included comprehensive ledgers of each consignment from February 2020 to June 2023, allowing the officers to value the earnings of the operation at over £55 million.
On August 19 Qiji Wang was jailed for 12 years for conspiracy to money launder and operating an unregistered money service business.
Xiaoyu Shu was sentenced to three years and eight months' for conspiracy to money launder, operating an unregistered currency exchange and possession of criminal property.
Yunchen Huang was jailed for three years and four months' for conspiracy to money launder, operating an unregistered currency exchange and possession of criminal property.
Ruolan Chen was jailed for two years for operating an unregistered money service business.
On June 14 Peng Liu was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for acquiring and possessing criminal property.
Ang Li was jailed for 18 months' for operating an unregistered money service business and possession of criminal property and Yin Ying Wang was sentenced to 11 months' for possession of criminal property.
Detective Constable Zach Rowe, of the Stoke Newington Proactive Crime Team, said: “Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of highly skilled officers in the Met, we have been able to disrupt a sophisticated economic crime operation.
"The sheer scale of this laundering will generate crimes such as illegal drug supply, prostitution, human trafficking and more.
“This verdict and the lengthy three-year investigation that led to it, demonstrates that we’ll leave no stone unturned in our pursuit to catch criminals who look to enjoy the proceeds of illicit funds – no matter how complex the case.”
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