Millions of vile images were bought online (Image: Getty Images/Image Source)
A Chinese student studying at a British university went on a lavish shopping spree after money laundering mammoth amounts of cash for an international crime gang, a court heard. Huanyu Zhou, 27, was arrested in her halls of residence at Southampton University following a major Interpol probe into criminals operating a global network of vile child sexual assault content. Members were selling sickening abuse pictures and videos of children being abused via platforms such as X, Discord and Telegram, Southampton Crown Court was told.
Zhou received more than £216,000 paid into her cryptocurrency account between February 5 and October 28, 2023, from crypto wallets that were receiving payments linked to the sordid trade, it is alleged. A Louis Vuitton bag was found in her room when she was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators, while an image from her phone showed other designer items. Before her arrest, Chinese national Huanyu is said to have arranged a VIP personal shopper visit to Bicester Designer Shopping Village and she went on seven trips to Europe, including Iceland, Austria and Hungary, between February and June 2024.
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Her arrest took place after the NCA worked with US counterparts in the FBI under the direction of Interpol to target a South-East Asian origin organised crime group involved in the ‘mass distribution’ of child sex abuse material via the internet for financial gain.
Huanyu travelled to the UK in September 2023 to study for a master’s degree in Digital Strategy and Information Systems but had already become involved in the laundering operation with her boyfriend Jinfeng Li in China, the jury was told.
It is alleged that between March 2022 and July 2024 she was actively involved in facilitating the distribution of child sex abuse material by possessing and transferring cryptocurrency funds generated by their sale to customers.
Huanyu denies the offences and claims Jingfeng used her details to open crypto and other accounts without her knowledge.
General view of Southampton Crown Court (Image: PA)
The court heard that the group advertised and sold the material through a scheme called an ‘Invite Child Abuse Pyramid’.
Francis FitzGibbon KC, prosecuting, said: “The offer was for levels of increasingly bad sexual abuse, with higher prices for each level and the worst material at the top of the pyramid costing the most.”
Operating on the clear web rather than the dark web significantly increased the crime gang’s client base, the court was told.
Mr FitzGibbon added: “They advertised with links on mainstream internet platforms such as Discord, Telegram and Twitter.
“Clicking on such a link would direct the user to a site which provides a free preview of child sex abuse material, designed to encourage further purchase.”
More than four terrabytes of illegal material could be obtained through purchasing the most expensive tier of the pyramid – the equivalent of one million still images, 1,000 videos and millions of documents.
Users could access material by sharing links with others or by paying for it via anonymous Telegram sellers with crypto currency.
Mr FitzGibbon said: “The trade is international and highly organised. Internet communication makes it easy. It is, of course, criminal.
“The proceeds of this filthy criminal trade therefore have to be laundered and recycled into the legitimate economy.
“We say that Zhou was a knowing and willing conduit and recipient of money paid by consumers to the suppliers of this filth and money needed to pay for the internet services that enable the material to be reached by paedophiles.
“We say that she used crypto-currency accounts to receive money and, as she and those behind her hoped, cleanse the dirty criminal money.”
The Southampton University student is accused of knowingly cleansed dirty money (Image: Hampshire Live / Darren Pepe)
The gang used layers of protection, including virtual private networks (VPNs), anonymous accounts and cryptocurrency payments, in a bid to avoid detection, the court heard.
However, the prosecution say the FBI linked Huanyu to the illegal activity through an intricate undercover and digital investigation.
When she was arrested at Mayflower Halls on July 4 last year and her iPhone 14 and an Apple iPad were seized, she told officers the claimes were “ridiculous”.
But the court was told the devices contained incriminating evidence showing links to child sex abuse material and a price list detailing how to make payments.
Huanyu’s deposits included £31,963 into five different UK bank accounts that were opened between September 28 and December 22, 2023.
The jury was told the source of this income remained “unexplained”.
Mr FitzGibbon told the jury: “The source of these large sums of cash paid into (Huanyu’s) UK bank accounts is not clear and largely unexplained.
He added: “You may also wonder where this money came from, and why it was paid into five different accounts?”
Huanyu’s arrest had a direct impact on the crime gang which removed domains from the internet and deleted Telegram accounts used for payments, Mr FitzGibbon said.
Huanyu attended Southampton University (Image: Hampshire Live / Darren Pepe)
The Internet Watch Foundation, which monitors and removes online child sex abuse material, noted a huge drop in reports about Invite Child Abuse Pyramid sites within three days of Huanyu’s arrest, the court heard.
Mr FitzGibbon said: “This was not coincidental but triggered by her arrest. The organised crime group must have become aware and were seeking to cover their tracks and dissociate from Zhou.”
In her evidence Huanyu claimed she had no idea her boyfriend was involved in selling such material and thought he was a successful businessman who sold medical supplies and made investments.
She said she had been so focused on her studies that she did not spot any references to child sex abuse in messages he sent.
She also said the Bicester trip was just for “window shopping” and she flew budget airlines with no baggage allowance for the trips.
The trial continues.