Hong Kong police shut down money-laundering syndicate suspected of processing HK$168 million through 100 bank accounts

Hong Kong police have arrested 13 men and shut down a local money-laundering syndicate that had used more than 100 bank accounts to process illegal funds totalling HK$168 million (US$21.6 million) since March this year.

The suspects, who were detained on Monday, included four core members of the syndicate and nine holders of the bank accounts that were used to collect and launder crime proceeds, according to the force on Tuesday.

Police said HK$27 million of the funds laundered by the racket was generated from 354 cases of deception reported in Hong Kong. The cases included 336 online employment scams, 15 investment frauds, two e-shopping frauds and one internet love scam.

Senior Inspector Chow Nga-sze of the force’s financial intelligence and investigation bureau said police began monitoring the laundering racket in mid-2022 and found the syndicate used money to lure people into setting up those bank accounts.

“The investigation revealed those who were recruited by the syndicate were paid between HK$500 and HK$2,000 to set up each bank account, but they had to hand over their logon names, passwords and bank cards,” she said.

She said the syndicate had laundered HK$168 million generated from various types of scams in the city and abroad through 104 bank accounts since March. The accounts belonged to nine men recruited by the racket.

“The money was laundered through these bank accounts or the withdrawal of cash in an effort to conceal the source of illegal funds and escape detection by law enforcers,” Chow said.

She said the syndicate also set up a round-the-clock operational centre in a flat in a Tsuen Wan factory building, where its core members used the bank accounts to collect and launder scammed money online.

Hong Kong police arrest 32 for selling their bank accounts to scammers

After identifying the suspects, officers raided the flat on Monday. Inside the premises, police arrested four core members of the syndicate and seized mobile phones, SIM cards, bank accounts and account books.

The four men were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.

On the same day, they arrested another nine men in a series of raids on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Police said the nine suspects were holders of 104 bank accounts.

Police arrested the nine men for money laundering and obtaining property by deception.

Hong Kong bank accounts used to launder HK$4 billion in one year

In Hong Kong, money laundering is punishable by up to 14 years in jail and a HK$5 million fine while obtaining property by deception carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

As of Tuesday afternoon, all 13 men aged between 18 and 45 were being held for questioning. Police said the investigation was still under way and further arrests were possible.

Chow urged the public not to lend or sell their bank accounts or e-wallets to others for handling money from unknown sources, warning that those who did could be prosecuted for money laundering.

In the first nine months of this year, police handled 19,444 reports of deception involving financial losses of HK$3.3 billion. There were 13,920 cases in the same period last year.

2 in Hong Kong arrested over laundering HK$3.5 billion in precious metal case

In October, customs officers arrested two men on suspicion of laundering HK$3.5 billion after they withdrew 8.4 tonnes (9.25 tons) of precious metal from a security firm’s vault, with the stash believed to have been bought with criminal proceeds and smuggled into the city.

In the first 10 months of the year, customs solved nine money-laundering cases, including the current one, totalling HK$5.2 billion in suspected criminal assets. There were 12 cases involving HK$4.4 billion last year and nine amounting to HK$4.6 billion in 2020.

The city’s largest money-laundering case – involving HK$13.1 billion – came to light in 2012 when police arrested a 22-year-old man from the mainland. Between August 2009 and April 2010, the man laundered the money by making 4,800 deposits to his bank accounts. He was sentenced to 10½ years in jail in January 2013.