Research on the Criminal Psychology and the Handling of Concurrence of Self-laundering and Upstream Crimes

Money laundering poses a complex threat to the global financial security system, with growing impacts on legitimate commerce and macroeconomic security. Since the criminalization of self‑laundering in Amendment (XI) to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (2020), the issue of concurrence between self‑laundering and upstream crimes has brought new challenges to the allocation of criminal liability (He, 2022). This study integrates psychological criminology, comparative criminal law, and evidence‑based sentencing theory. This study argues that combined punishment for plural crimes is the most theoretically sound and practically effective solution to this fundamental theoretical challenge. The analysis shows that financial regulatory protection and psychological preventive mechanisms are closely linked in developing robust responses to complex money laundering cases. Importantly, this approach is consistent with international best practices reflected in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations and the European Union anti‑money laundering framework (Borlini, 2024), thereby strengthening international judicial cooperation while safeguarding China’s overall financial security interests.