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Over HK$8 billion from scam victims laundered through Hong Kong bank accounts in 2020: police sources
- The force’s anti-fraud squad managed to intercept nearly HK$3.07 billion of the total involved, conned from local and international victims alike
- The volume of stop-payment requests from those swindled means more than 10,000 personal and business bank accounts were likely involved
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More than HK$8.33 billion (US$1.07 billion) conned from the victims of online, phone and investment scams was laundered through thousands of Hong Kong bank accounts last year, the Post has learned.
The police force’s anti-fraud squad intercepted nearly HK$3.07 billion collected from local and international victims, though the remaining HK$5.26 billion was pocketed by swindlers.
The amount of money stopped by the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre in 2020 was the highest for any year since it was established in July 2017.
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By comparison, the squad intercepted HK$3.03 billion in 2019, and HK$1.23 billion in 2018. The transfer of HK$178 million was stopped in its first half-year of existence.
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As the HK$8.33 billion in 2020 involved nearly 2,600 stop-payment requests from victims, police sources said thousands of Hong Kong bank accounts – both personal and business – were believed to have been used to collect and launder the funds.
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