Syndicate that conned 139 women in love scams busted in joint operation by police from Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore
- The syndicate swindled US$4.34 million from 139 women across the four locations
- 39 people were arrested, and three dozen other suspects were also nabbed for trying to launder the proceeds of the crime
Police from Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore mounted a joint operation and busted a transnational syndicate that swindled 139 women out of HK$34 million (US$4.34 million) in online romance scams, local police said on Thursday.
The three-day transnational police operation, code-named “Soarblaze”, led to the arrests of 39 people, including three core figures of the racket. Thirteen of the syndicate members were caught in Hong Kong.
A police source said the syndicate was based in Malaysia and had been in operation since June last year.
According to police, the core figures – two men and one woman, aged between 33 and 49 – were arrested in Malaysia.
The other 36 suspects – seven men and 29 women – were arrested for money laundering, after their bank accounts were found to have been used to collect the swindled money and launder the proceeds of the crime.
