Exclusive | Millions in laundered cash from email scams filtered through Hong Kong, police say
Sources say unlicensed mainland banks sent recruits to Hong Kong to open bank accounts and send swindled cash abroad
International fraudsters worked with underground banks from the mainland to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from commercial email scams via Hong Kong this year, the Post has learned.
Unlicensed banks from the mainland were responsible for opening bank accounts in the city to collect money swindled from overseas companies before the cash was channelled to other countries and moved around the world.
In the past, fraudsters from Africa and other countries came to the city to open bank accounts or hire local residents to do so.
The new tactics came to light after officers investigating nearly 500 reports of commercial email fraud with losses of about HK$650 million this year discovered many bank accounts used to collect the swindled money in the city were opened by mainland visitors.
“We believe [the account holders] were recruited by the underground banks who offered them monetary rewards and free sightseeing trips to Hong Kong to open bank accounts [with e-banking services],” one source said. It is understood some came from Fujian province.