What do you call the crime of fencing in Chinese?

[chrix]

At a gathering where several Chinese speakers were present the question came up what to call the crime of fencing, i.e. the handling of stolen goods, and also, what to call a fence, i.e. a person engaged in such illegal activities. (German Hehler(ei), Japanese 故買(者))

The dictionary suggested 窩藏贓物 and 窩主, but these words were rejected (the latter seems to cover harbouring fugitives as well), and I'm not sure if these terms might be outdated or what. There might also be other slang terms that might be in currency. Web searches suggest that the above Japanese term is also used in Chinese, but this word didn't ring a bell with the above mentioned Chinese speakers either).

So please let me know what kind of terms you are familiar with, I'm interested in terms from any register, slang, colloquial, formal (including the 罪名 in the Penal Code, it might be something like 贓物買賣).

[semantic nuance]

In Taiwanese, we call it 賊仔市場 (please listen to the attachment) for a place to sell those stolen goods. 賊仔 literally means 'theif'.

In Madarin, selling stolen goods can be 銷贓.

While typing the word 贓, a chengyu came up, 人贓俱獲, meaning to be caught red-handed.

[Kenny同志]

fencing, or the business of buying (收赃、接赃) and selling (销赃) stolen property, is 收赃销赃.

stolen property: 赃、赃物、贼赃、老鼠货（香港用法）.

fence: 收赃人（one who receives stolen property）销赃人（one who sells stolen property）,收赃销赃的人。

To my best knowledge, there is no single word in Chinese standing for fence. And if being asked to translate into Chinese "He is a fence." I would probably put it as 他收赃销赃.

PS: 赃 is not merely confined to stolen property. It includes all sorts of illegal 财物( What is it in English?), such as stolen and/or robbed property, bribe money, loots, etc..

Edited January 21, 2010 at 12:59 PM by kenny2006woo

[chrix]

Thank you, very much appreciated So I take it that 窩主 and 故買 are either obscure and/or outdated terms, right? If that's the case, someone should file a report with the Chinaboard German-Chinese dictionary because they give 窩主 for "Hehler" (and MDBG probably too, but they didn't have an entry at all ).

[Kenny同志]

窝主 are persons who hide loots, stolen property, drugs, etc., for criminals but who don't buy them. A person who provides a shelter for one who has violated the law is also a 窝主. Though the word has a definition on the dictionary, it rarely comes into my ears.

(I have a guess that it is a slang, or a term)

I don't know anything about 故买 and this is the first time I come across it.

Edited January 21, 2010 at 01:21 PM by kenny2006woo

[skylee]

hmm ...... 大英博物館？ I don't know ......

PS - the name came up because I usually call it 賊贓博物館 …

[chrix]

Please let's not inject politics into a discussion about vocabulary, unless the British Museum was in the business of illegally selling stolen artwork for profit...

Semantic nuance, thank you also for the Taigi term, I appreciate it. Would you be so kind and also tell me the tones for each syllable, unfortunately my Taigi stops at 蚵仔煎, and even there I don't think I'm getting the tones right

kenny, thank you re 窩主. I guess we need more crime shows on Chinese television, then they would show scenes of burglars negotiating with fences in dark backrooms more often

[Kenny同志]

You are welcome.

[semantic nuance]

chrix, I'd really want to help you with tones, but I can only speak Taiwanese without knowing tones. Perhaps this 台文/華文線頂辭典 might be of help. I just checked the term 賊仔市 and its pronunciation is clear but robotlike. But the link shows the tone of each character. If you need the pronunciation of each word of 賊仔市, please pm me.

[ning22047]

we call the crime of fencing as 销赃者. if someone plays as an accomplice to receives or sells stolen goods.