A MAJOR drugs trafficker told the High Court yesterday how profits from a multi-million-dollar New York smuggling operation were laundered through Hong Kong bank accounts.
Yuen Ho-yin, 54, who was given immunity in exchange for testifying against accomplices, said a number of massive shipments in the mid-1980s generated more than US$45 million (HK$347.5 million).
Yuen, whose testimony was recorded on video in a Los Angeles court, said almost all the money was sent back to Hong Kong for laundering through about 20 accounts in the names of relatives and associates.
Yuen said many of the account holders must have known the money came from trafficking because of the size and regularity of remittances. He said some proceeds were laundered through an accomplice's jewellery shop in Taiwan.
He said he kept detailed records in code of transactions and payments, but disguised them to make the amounts appear smaller.
Yuen, who has already given evidence at three trials in New York and one in Hong Kong, is testifying against Lo Chak-man and Tsoi Sau-ngai.