Criminal syndicate used shell company to operate dozens of bank accounts and launder more than HK$380 million, Hong Kong police say
- 14 people arrested in raids across city over two days, including suspected core members of illegal operation
- The syndicate ran shell company out of Fo Tan office and used it to control 60 local bank accounts and wash the money, force says
Hong Kong police have arrested 14 people in a crackdown on a money-laundering syndicate that used 60 local bank accounts to wash more than HK$380 million (US$48.77 million) in illegal proceeds over 18 months.
The amount included HK$25 million connected to at least 50 fraud cases reported in the city and abroad, Chief Inspector Tang Hoi-tung of the financial intelligence and investigation bureau said on Tuesday. Officers were still investigating the sources of the remaining HK$355 million, she added.
Officers seized HK$300,000 in cash and froze HK$20 million in bank accounts and securities trading accounts believed to have been controlled by the syndicate.
Police began investigating the gang in June after bank staff found suspicious transactions in one of the 60 accounts involved.
Officers were then able to identify the 59 other bank accounts controlled by the syndicate, which was allegedly run by three local men in their thirties, according to the force.
“Between April of 2020 and October of 2021, the gang used the 60 bank accounts to launder more than HK$380 million in crime proceeds,” Tang said.
Police said the core members recruited others, including their own family members and girlfriends, to set up a shell company operating out of an industrial unit in Fo Tan and open bank accounts.