BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Procuratorates across China charged 17,264 people for illegally taking public deposits or fund-raising fraud in 2018, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).
Such crimes have been increasing in China year by year, as more suspects were prosecuted last year than in 2016 and 2017, during which 16,406 and 17,144 people were charged, respectively, the SPP said at a press conference on Thursday.
Meanwhile, illegal fund-raising involving extremely large sum of money has increased, while the crimes are being committed in more deceptive and complicated ways, such as in the disguise of so-called financial innovation, with a growing number of suspects having financial backgrounds.
Online illegal fund-raising has also become common, which could have a more serious impact, according to the SPP, saying that procuratorates across the country had intensified the crackdown on such crimes.
