Hong Kong police arrest hundreds in HK$620 million fraud, money-laundering crackdown
Operations target misuse of bank accounts, romance scams and money laundering through virtual currencies
Hong Kong police have arrested more than 680 people in a series of recent operations targeting deception and money laundering, with suspected criminal proceeds reaching HK$620 million (US$79.5 million).
Among the cases uncovered in the past three weeks were romance scams in which victims were cheated twice and unauthorised money transactions where some bank customers used the same passwords for their online accounts and email logins, police revealed on Monday.
Officers arrested 682 people, aged between 14 and 89, in the citywide crackdown in which 580 cases involving phone, online shopping and job scams were detected. The losses incurred hit HK$620 million.
In an operation conducted on January 17 and 18, officers dismantled a local romance scam syndicate and a criminal group engaged in laundering the stolen money using virtual currencies.
Eight men and three women were arrested, including three alleged ringleaders and a core member. Two suspects were charged with conspiracy to defraud and appeared in court earlier.
Investigators said they believed the syndicate had defrauded 314 victims over the past 16 months, with losses reaching HK$44 million and each person losing an average of HK$150,000.