Author: Xiao Sa lawyer
Recently, a member of Sister Sa’s team suddenly received an inquiry call from an old friend in the cryptocurrency circle late at night. The friend said that he was suddenly “under border control” and could not leave the country. Because there were some gray areas in his previous business operations, he is now very worried that he will be taken away by judicial authorities and his personal freedom will be restricted, so he urgently needs legal services.
In fact, Laoyou’s situation is not an isolated case. Among the many cases we handle, “border control” is nothing new, and it is not uncommon for people in the cryptocurrency circle to be suddenly “border controlled”. Today, the Sajie team will explain in detail what “border control” is? Why are people in the cryptocurrency circle “border controlled”? And if you are “border controlled”, how to save yourself.
What is Border Control?
The so-called "border control" refers to the national immigration administration's implementation of exit and entry control on specific personnel in accordance with the law based on the decision of relevant authorities. The specific "border control" includes two types: prohibition of exit and prohibition of entry. The legal term is "restriction of exit".
The term "border control" has a long history. It was not a popular abbreviation at first, but a real wording in my country's normative documents. It was first seen in the "Notice on the Implementation of the New Notice on Border Control Objects" jointly issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, etc. in 1990. In 1998, the Ministry of Public Security clarified the concept and implementation methods of "border control measures" in Article 256 of the "Procedures for the Handling of Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs".
To date, "border control", as a common temporary regulatory measure, has not been specifically regulated by a specific law, administrative regulation or other normative document, but is scattered among many laws, regulations, judicial interpretations and normative documents currently in force in my country.
For example, at the legal level, the main ones are: (1) Exit and Entry Administration Law; (2) Tax Collection and Management Law; (3) Civil Procedure Law; (4) Criminal Procedure Law; (5) Supervision Law, etc.
The main administrative regulations and departmental rules include: (1) "Interim Measures for the Administration of Chinese Citizens' Travel to Hong Kong or Macao for Private Matters"; (2) "Measures for the Administration of Chinese Citizens' Travel to Taiwan"; (3) "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Tax Administration Law"; (4) "Procedures for Handling Road Traffic Accidents"; (5) "Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs" etc.
There are even more other judicial interpretations and normative documents. Those who are interested can check them out on their own, and Sister Sa’s team will not list them one by one.
Why are people in the cryptocurrency circle suddenly subject to border control?
As mentioned above, it is not uncommon for people in the cryptocurrency circle to be suddenly restricted from leaving the country. According to Article 12 of my country's Exit and Entry Administration Law, Chinese citizens are not allowed to leave the country if they meet any of the following conditions:
Failure to hold valid entry/exit documents or refusing or evading border inspection;
Those who have been sentenced to a penalty but have not yet completed their sentence or are defendants or suspects in criminal cases;
There are unresolved civil cases and the People's Court has decided not to allow the person to leave the country;
Those who have been criminally punished for obstructing national (border) management or have been repatriated from other countries or regions for illegal exit, illegal residence, or illegal employment, and have not yet completed the period of prohibition from leaving the country;
Those who may endanger national security and interests and the relevant competent departments of the State Council decide not to allow them to leave the country;
Other circumstances where exit from the country is prohibited as provided for by laws and administrative regulations.
According to the practical experience of the Sajie team, when people in the cryptocurrency circle are suddenly “controlled at the border”, most of the time they can only escape the following four reasons:
(1) The person has been identified as a suspect (or a closely related person) in a major criminal case and has been filed with the investigative agency, and the case is being handled;
(2) Being put on the exit restriction list by the enforcement court due to civil disputes with others;
(3) Handling of special cases, such as cases being investigated by special departments such as the Supervisory Commission;
(4) Listed on the “Sensitive Persons” list.
Therefore, if people in the cryptocurrency circle suddenly find themselves under "border control", they must be vigilant and immediately consult lawyers and other professionals to start risk investigation. Of course, there is no need to fall into a state of extreme tension and desperate attempts. We have found that many times, people in the cryptocurrency circle need to frequently enter and exit the country because some of their work or industries are overseas, or there are non-compliant or gray operations in some industries overseas (for example, some industries operating overseas are legal and compliant in the destination country, but are illegal or even criminal in my country). This may be noticed by regulators and put on the list of "sensitive personnel", and then restricted during the exit process.
Therefore, being "border controlled" does not necessarily mean that a criminal case has been filed. Of course, due to my country's relatively negative attitude towards crypto assets and related transactions, and in the current economic environment, some judicial organs may have profit-seeking law enforcement, and the "Sword of Damocles" is still hanging over the heads of people in the currency circle. If you are subject to border control, you should not take it lightly.
It should be noted that once it is determined that you are "under border control" because of a criminal case, people in the currency circle must be prepared as soon as possible, because in our country, "border control" measures cannot be used at will, and are generally only used to handle important cases. According to Article 278 of the "Interpretation and Practical Guidelines for the Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs (2021 Edition)" [Approval and Control Procedures for Border Control]: If it is necessary to take border control measures against criminal suspects at the port, a border control object notification shall be prepared in accordance with relevant regulations, and relevant legal documents shall be attached. After review by the head of the public security organ at or above the county level, it shall be reported to the provincial public security organ for approval to handle border control measures nationwide... In an emergency, if border control measures need to be taken, the public security organs at or above the county level may issue an official letter and first hand over the control to the entry-exit border inspection authority at the relevant port, but the border control measures nationwide shall be handled in accordance with the prescribed procedures within seven days.
How to check whether I am under border control?
In practice, partners can check whether they are subject to “border control” through various channels.
There may be civil disputes with others
Partners can check the China Enforcement Information Disclosure Network (http://zxgk.court.gov.cn/) by themselves, and enter their own name and ID number in the comprehensive query interface for the person subject to enforcement (if the company of which they are the legal representative has a dispute with others, they can enter the company name and organization code for query) to check whether relevant restrictive measures have been taken against them. In addition, they can also communicate with the enforcement judge through a professional lawyer and directly ask whether compulsory measures restricting their exit from the country have been taken due to their failure to comply with the effective judgment.
There are no civil disputes or criminal offenses. You are not sure what you are involved in.
(1) You can check through the National Immigration Administration’s government service platform. On this platform, you can check your own document information. If your relevant documents show abnormalities, you can infer that you may be subject to “border control”. However, this method is not necessarily accurate. In practice, many partners have normal documents but encounter difficulties in the actual process of leaving the country.
(2) You can go to the immigration department for on-site inquiry. Generally, the staff will inform you whether you are restricted from leaving the country.
(3) Alternatively, you can directly purchase an outbound ticket to see if you can pass customs inspection. If you are subject to “border control”, you will not be able to leave the country. Some of the clients who have been subject to “border control” and have been served by the Sajie team have been told by relevant staff in person that they could not leave the country as soon as they entered the airport.
What to do if you are subject to border control?
It is also handled according to different situations. If you are restricted from leaving the country because of a civil dispute, there is no criminal risk as long as you are not suspected of refusing to comply with an effective judgment or ruling. You can entrust a lawyer to handle it. Of course, the debt must be fulfilled eventually.
If it involves a criminal case or a special case handled by the Supervisory Commission or other agencies, preparations must be started as early as possible, including entrusting a criminal defense lawyer to communicate with the judicial authorities in advance and arranging the lives of family members in advance.
If we are included in the list of "sensitive persons" by our regulatory authorities for special reasons, the situation is more complicated. First, we need to find out which judicial or administrative regulatory authority has included us in the list of "sensitive persons" (usually the public security agency); secondly, we need to fully communicate with the agency and provide it with a series of "self-innocence" materials as required, generally including our household registration information, bank statements, entry and exit records, overseas work and business situation certification materials, self-statements, etc., subject to the specific requirements of the regulatory authorities.
Final Thoughts
In general, after the two high courts recently issued the "Explanation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases of Money Laundering", which included virtual asset transactions in money laundering methods, my country has recently begun to strictly investigate related transactions of encrypted assets. Some transactions involve frequent cases of black money and stolen money. The partners in the currency circle must be cautious about their trading behavior and never cross the line. Once you find yourself under "border control", you must conduct risk investigation as soon as possible. If necessary, you need to entrust a professional lawyer to handle it in time.
The above is today’s sharing, thank you readers!
