With its controls over foreign currency, the practice of the illegal exchange thereof in China is decades old. But now, it’s all caught up with some individuals whose ¥200-million scam was operating in Shanghai and beyond, including our very own Jiangsu.
First though, little back story. This correspondent lived in Shanghai from 1993 to 2003. During this time, it was common for foreigners to be approached, particularly near the Bund, by individuals looking to acquire foreign currency.
首先，先讲一点背景故事。笔者于 1993 年至 2003 年间居住在上海。在此期间，想要获取外币的个人接近外国人是很常见的，特别是在外滩附近。
Usually referred to as the “change-a-money?” guys, on account of their friendly greeting, the idea was was they would give you a better rate for your Dollars, Deutschmarks or Dinar than the bank. Then they simply jacked up the rate and sold the cash on to Chinese, who at the time were prohibited from buying foreign exchange. They were also looking to sell foreigners contraband, but that’s another story.
通常称为“零钱”？伙计们，由于他们友好的问候，我们的想法是他们会给你比银行更好的美元、德国马克或第纳尔利率。然后他们只是提高利率并将现金卖给当时被禁止购买外汇的中国人。他们还想向外国人出售违禁品，但那是另一回事了。
Most of these guys were small time, but others found they were able to turn such a side business into a major operation. Here in 2022 though, of gang thereof have now been detained by authorities in Shanghai after their illegal foreign-exchange business had over the years managed to rack up ¥200 million in revenue.
这些人中的大多数人都是小企业，但其他人发现他们能够将这样的副业变成一项主要业务。然而，到了 2022 年，该团伙已被上海当局拘留，多年来他们的非法外汇业务已累计赚取 2 亿元人民币的收入。
The city’s Pudong police found that the main suspect, a Mr. Cai, had been thought to be operating an illegal foreign-exchange ring and making huge profits. Cai was central to what police dubbed “foreign exchange banks”.
浦东警方查明，主要犯罪嫌疑人蔡某涉嫌经营非法外汇团伙，牟取暴利。蔡是警方所谓的“外汇银行”的核心人物。
It emerged that Cai, who on paper runs a handicraft workshop, was previously engaged in garment processing. In order to expand his business, he would also sell clothes made in China to overseas, reported The Paper this morning, 24 October.
据了解，蔡某名义上经营一家手工作坊，此前从事服装加工。据澎湃新闻10月24日上午报道，为了扩大业务，他还将把中国制造的衣服销往海外。
As he conducted more foreign trade, Cai gradually became familiar with some foreign-currency exchange procedures. But he was also becoming unsatisfied with merely producing clothes.
随着对外贸易的增多，蔡逐渐熟悉了一些外汇兑换流程。但他也不再满足于仅仅生产衣服。
Soon, he was looking for overseas Chinese in urgent need of foreign exchange, together with merchants engaged in foreign trade that he knew, in order to put two and two together and solve the problem.
很快，他就开始寻找急需外汇的华侨，和他认识的从事外贸的商人一起，以求两个两个结合起来解决问题。
Investigators found that Cai had in fact been engaged in illegal-exchange business in several Chinese provinces, including Guangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and others.
调查发现，蔡某事实上曾在广西、江苏、浙江等中国多个省份从事非法兑换业务。
On 14 September, law enforcement officers travelled to Jiangsu, among other places, to arrest those suspected of being involved in the case. They made a successful capture of 11 individuals, including Cai himself. The investigations are ongoing.
9月14日，执法人员前往江苏等地抓捕涉嫌涉案的人员。他们成功抓获包括蔡本人在内的11人。调查正在进行中。
