Rule of law suffers when Hong Kong targets money laundering

Hong Kong's efforts to tackle money laundering are under increasing strain due to a surge in the number of suspicious transactions being reported and concerns over a brain drain of investigators to the private sector.

Let me explain why we have so many money-laundering cases in front of our courts these days.

In Britain, when police apprehend a thief in a stolen goods warehouse with his fingerprints on the loot and the cash proceeds in his hands, he generally says: "Right, guv, it's a fair cop."

In Hong Kong, he says: "Me? No, my Uncle Pang in Guangzhou sent me here this evening to see whether his shipment of jewellery is in good order. I know nothing."

And then the prosecution has to go to the trouble of proving criminal intent, which can be a very difficult thing to do.