Hong Kong police arrest 4 on suspicion of conning 11 people out of HK$8.5 million
- Fraud syndicate members posed as bank employees and cold-called targets to offer loans with low interest rates
- Victims include retired civil servant who lost his entire HK$2 million retirement fund to fraudsters
Hong Kong police have arrested four people in a crackdown on a fraud syndicate suspected of cheating 11 loan applicants out of HK$8.5 million (US$1.1 million), including an ex-civil servant who lost his entire retirement fund.
The fraud syndicate members posed as bank employees and cold-called their targets to offer loans with low interest rates, Inspector Yan Sze-ho of the Central district crime squad on Friday said.
The victims were referred to the Sheung Wan office of a financial intermediary company, where they were persuaded to sign documents and pay a surety to secure the loans.
According to the force, the retired government employee was conned out of his entire HK$2 million retirement fund.
“He was seeking a [low-interest] loan of HK$6 million, but was coaxed into paying HK$2 million as a surety to secure it,” Yan said.
The scam came to light after the former civil servant could not reach the staff members at the Sheung Wan office.
The suspects – two men and two women – were arrested on Thursday after detectives discovered the fraudsters had set up a new company in Wan Chai last month following the closure of the other office.
On Thursday afternoon, policemen raided the Hennessy Road office and arrested two suspected scammers.
Yan said they were processing loan procedures with a new applicant when officers entered the premises. A large number of loan applications, five computers, a banknote counter and mobile phones were confiscated.
2 arrested on suspicion of cheating Hong Kong elderly woman out of HK$3.3 million
Hours later, police rounded up the other two suspects in Central and Kwai Chung.
The four suspects, aged between 23 and 29, remained in police custody for questioning as of Friday night.
Police said they had received 11 cases of residents scammed out of a total of HK$8.5 million between September and October this year.
Police said the investigation was ongoing and did not rule out further arrests.
Yan urged residents to seek loans from licensed and reputable banks or financial companies.
