HK$6 billion in scammed funds transferred through Hong Kong bank accounts in past 15 months

Close to HK$6 billion (US$768 million) swindled from victims of various online and phone scams in Hong Kong and around the world was transferred through bank accounts in the city over the past 15 months, the Post has learned.

A police anti-fraud squad set up last July seized more than HK$1.1 billion, or 20 per cent of the payments, but fraudsters pocketed the rest.

Investigations indicated that a portion of the money was laundered through local bank accounts and moved around the world before the authorities lost track of it, one law enforcement source said.

“A large sum of swindled money was first funnelled into several local bank accounts from overseas and then laundered through layers of accounts before being remitted out of Hong Kong,” he said. “Tens of accounts were used to launder dirty cash in one case.”

The anti-fraud squad has identified thousands of individuals and company accounts in the city that were used to collect and launder such sums.

Last month, police arrested a businessman and his female business partner after his bank account was found to have been used to collect and launder HK$620 million obtained in scams during the first seven months of this year.