Hong Kong under the spotlight in Australian money laundering case
Case filed against Commonwealth Bank of Australia claims laundered cash was transferred to Hong Kong accounts and that three arrests have already been made in the city
Hong Kong has once again been named in global investigations into breaches of anti-money laundering rules at an international bank.
Australia’s financial watchdog, Austrac has filed a case against Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) – one of the country’s “big four” banks – alleging some AUS$ 90 million (US$70.9 million) of laundered money was deposited at CBA Intelligent Deposit Machines (IDM) in Australia.
According to the statement of a claim, filed by the regulator, some of that was then transferred immediately to bank accounts in Hong Kong, adding that three arrests had already been made in the city, regarding the case.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) – Hong Kong’s de facto central bank – has now launched an investigation into CBA’s conduct, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review, which could not be independently verified by the SCMP.
According to the statement of claim filed by Austrac, four different syndicates deposited the cash at CBA’s IDMs. Two then transferred the money to accounts in Hong Kong.
Of the five people arrested in the case of one of these syndicates, three were in Hong Kong, the statement said, without naming individuals.