China saw an explosion of financial crimes in the first half (H1) of 2015 with 10,608 suspects arrested for financial fraud, up 67.2 percent year on year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announced Wednesday.
A total of 11,276 people, involved in 8,322 cases, were charged from January to June, a 30 percent increase compared with the same period last year, the SPP said.
Credit card fraud remained the financial crime of choice for criminals, followed by illegal fund raising, and then insider trading, the SPP said.
More than 200,000 people were investigated or had been charged between January 2014 to June 2015 for credit card fraud.
There was a steep increase in illegal fund raising in H1, up 74 percent year on year. Some cases involved several billion yuan.
The Internet has made it increasingly more difficult to investigate crimes and secure convictions, said Nie Jianhua, deputy director of SPP public prosecution department.
Criminals are exploiting the anonymity afforded by P2P lending platforms to commit financial crimes, Nie said.
Third party payment services, which are often used on smart devices,have also given criminals more opportunities to siphon money off unsuspecting victims, Nie said.
Cross-border foreign exchange remittance and money laundering have also increased, Nie said.
The SPP said it would work closely with other law enforcement to regulate online financial activity, and establish dedicated financial crime teams.
