Hong Kong police arrest 219 people over swindling residents out of HK$500 million
- Chief Inspector Lam Ka-tsing says wealthy professionals among 558 victims duped by scammers, warning residents they may be targets ‘no matter what your background is’
- Officers arrested 219 people over obtaining property by deception, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, with most suspected of selling their bank accounts
Chief Inspector Lam Ka-tsing of the Hong Kong Island regional crime unit on Monday said the 558 victims, aged 17 to 88, lost between HK$500 and HK$19 million each.
“They include individuals with high education backgrounds and high salaries, such as accountants, auditors, bank managers, investment consultants and people working in the legal field,” he said. “No matter what your background is, you can be a target of swindlers.”
Among the victims discovered in the two-week crackdown was a 36-year-old software engineer who lost more than HK$19 million, the largest amount recorded in the recent cases, in an online investment scam.
Fraudsters befriended the man online before luring him into setting up an investment account on a bogus trading website, with money being funnelled straight to scammers, police said.
“In five months, he transferred more than HK$19 million into 42 third-party bank accounts in 81 transactions,” Chief Inspector Wu Man-yee of the Hong Kong Island regional crime prevention office said.
The victim realised he had been conned when he lost contact with the scammers.
Between January 8 and 21, police mounted operation “Enterhaze” to combat fraud and money-laundering syndicates.