Pair paid US$150 each to launder millions
Fake legal documents used to steal HK$81m Google payment from Russian app firm
Two mainlanders who each accepted US$150 in return for opening bank accounts to launder money have been linked to an HK$81 million scam involving a Russian firm, the District Court heard yesterday.
He Qingqiu, 31, pleaded guilty to one charge of laundering US$1.54 million, and Li Bei, 28, admitted two similar charges involving US$1.59 million.
But the court heard that they had told police they had no idea about the scam.
Prosecutor Derek Wong Chun-hin told the court the Russian company, named Game Insight, developed mobile phone applications for Google.
Game Insight bought a shell company named East Asia Exim Trading in Hong Kong to receive payments from Google. East Asia Exim opened an account with HSBC. Between March and April last year, Game Insight set up internet banking services for East Asia Exim's account.
A man named Gou Zhou, who had become East Asia Exim's director and sole shareholder in March last year, sent documents to Game Insight, stating that the founder of Game Insight had power of attorney over all of the firm's affairs, and that Gou held its shares only as a nominee.