US syndicate launders cash in Macau

Smugglers of arms and fake banknotes used Bank of China account, say agents after they bag 59 in sting and raids

Two Asian men who attempted to smuggle nearly US$5 million worth of weapons and counterfeit bills into the US laundered proceeds of US$1.15 million in bank accounts in Macau, according to charges filed against them by the American government.

Co Khanh Tang and Jyimin Horng are among 87 alleged members of a criminal syndicate accused by the US government of smuggling weapons, counterfeit money, drugs and fake cigarettes into the country. Fifty-nine people were taken into custody over the weekend in a series of arrests that capped a five-year investigation. The round-up included a spectacular sting operation in New Jersey that lured suspects to a mock wedding party aboard a luxury yacht.

According to charges filed by federal prosecutors in a New Jersey court, Tang and Horng received payments of US$1.15 million from undercover law enforcement agents in exchange for US$3.35 million worth of 'supernotes' - top- quality counterfeit dollars that are almost indistinguishable from genuine currency.

The payments also entailed a US$50,000 deposit towards a US$1 million shipment of arms, including 75 anti-tank missiles, 50 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 1,200 AK-47 assault rifles and various other firearms that Horng allegedly conspired to smuggle into the US with the assistance of a pair of military generals in two unnamed countries.

Tang and Horng instructed undercover US agents to make 18 separate transfers into Macau bank accounts controlled by the pair in exchange for shipments of 'supernotes' and weapons, according to the US government charges.

Between August last year and July 12 this year, agents transferred US$254,000 to Bank of China account number 01-111-014350-7, in the name Lee Kan Sing Ken, and US$900,000 to International Bank of Taipei account number 1001-162708-106, in the name Chun Chi Liu.