Hong Kong police impound Lamborghini worth HK$6 million suspected to be tied to growing JPEX financial scandal
- Officers from commercial crime bureau arrest 31-year-old man, 27th suspect in case
- He was one of seven suspects taken into custody on Thursday in connection with city’s biggest case of alleged financial fraud
Hong Kong police have impounded a Lamborghini worth HK$6 million (US$766,280) suspected to have been bought with illegal funds from the growing HK$1.55 billion financial scandal centred on the cryptocurrency trading platform JPEX, following the arrest of a 27th suspect.
Officers from the commercial crime bureau arrested the 31-year-old man on Thursday night, a source familiar with the case on Friday said.
The force insider said a preliminary investigation suggested the man was a member of an alleged syndicate connected with the platform.
He was one of the seven suspects taken into custody on Thursday in connection with the city’s biggest case of alleged financial fraud.
The others included Chan Siu-lung, 35, CEO of over-the-counter (OTC) virtual asset money changer CryptoPARD, and its former director surnamed Li. Three others were employees of another two OTC outlets – Coingaroo and Tung Club.
They were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, according to the force.
The Lamborghini, which a source estimated to be worth HK$6 million, belonged to a 54-year-old alleged member of the syndicate and who was arrested by police on Thursday.
Shortly after 5pm on Friday, the Lamborghini was towed away by police from The Carmel housing estate in Tuen Mun.
On Wednesday, officers arrested television star Cheng Chun-hei, 29, and a 28-year-old man and impounded their Porsches, which were suspected to have been bought with the proceeds of crime.
Among those arrested earlier were social media influencers who had appeared in adverts for the trading platform and set up their own OTC shops. They included Joseph Lam Chok, Chan Wing-yee and Sheena Leung.
The scandal emerged last month after the securities watchdog named JPEX as an unlicensed platform, accusing it of suspicious activities.
As of 5pm on Thursday, police had received 2,528 complaints about the trading platform involving HK$1.55 billion.
The Post earlier learned the force had frozen bank accounts and assets involving about HK$100 million, including properties and luxury vehicles, in connection with the case.
In the first two days of the operation on September 18 and 19, officers arrested eight people, froze HK$15 million in bank account assets and seized three properties valued at HK$44 million.
Police were trying to intercept the outflow of tokens from digital currency wallets linked to JPEX, and were also seeking help from Interpol to freeze the assets, the Post learned.
The Securities and Futures Commission on Wednesday said it had set up a working group with police to ensure closer collaboration over the investigation of illegal activities related to virtual asset trading platforms.
The commission said the cooperation would involve its enforcement and intermediaries divisions and three police bureaus.
