According to Caixin, on July 23, the Hong Kong District Court sentenced Xiao Jun’s son, Xiao Rui, the former commissioner of the Wuhan Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, to 6 years and 9 months in prison. Xiao Rui was previously convicted of four counts of “money laundering” and one count of “using a false instrument copy” after laundering more than HK$64 million through an underground remittance house and applying for Hong Kong residency using false documents.

During the trial, Xiao Rui argued that the funds involved came from his mother’s business income and his income from selling Bitcoin. However, the court noted that his mother had long worked in hospitals as a nurse and in clerical roles; Xiao Rui also failed to provide records such as the dates, numbers, or wallet addresses of the Bitcoin transactions, so the court did not accept the claim.