Just one investigator for every 740 potential money laundering cases
Just 50 investigators in unit tracking suspicious cash flows despite more than 37,000 potential inquiries as exodus to private sector hits hard
Only 50 investigators are assigned to the police anti-money laundering unit that faced a record deluge of more than 37,000 potential cases last year.
The disclosure comes as questions are being raised by lawmakers about the unit's ability to assess complex money-laundering cases given an exodus of experienced investigators to the private sector.
The Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU), which is staffed by police and customs officers, is responsible for assessing all of the city's suspicious transaction reports.
Cases it believes deserve further investigation are forwarded to the appropriate agency, which can involve the police, customs, the Independent Commission against Corruption or overseas financial intelligence units.
At the most recent meeting of the Legislative Council's security panel last Tuesday, pan-democratic lawmaker Kenneth Leung, who represents the accountancy sector, questioned the unit's capabilities to the ICAC's director of operations Ryan Wong Sai-chiu.
"In recent years, we've seen an increase in money-laundering activities," he said, during which time, the JFIU had lost staff to the business sector lured by better pay and work conditions.
Wong admitted that in recent years, the anti-graft watchdog had lost some of its most senior staff.