Bank staff arrested in HK$6.3b money laundering case

Police say they have arrested seven current and former bank staff over an alleged money laundering case involving HK$6.3 billion.

Superintendent Yip Wing-lam from the Commercial Crime Bureau said it is the first time that local bank staff have been arrested in relation to alleged international money laundering syndicates.

The police said they have tracked down an email scam that occurred in the United Kingdom in 2017, revealing a transnational money laundering syndicate that had been operating locally for about 5 years.

Yip said the money involved is the biggest sum in recent cases of this kind, and HK$7.8 million in cash was seized from just one flat.

The bank staff arrested were suspected of using their positions to help syndicates evade detection, successfully opened 14 company accounts between 2017 and 2018, processed a total of HK$6.3 billion in suspected criminal proceeds with payments coming in from Italy, Vietnam and Germany.

The suspects who helped with opening the accounts are alleged to have received several thousand dollars as remuneration.

According to the force, 16 people from the mainland and Belgium posed as directors of trading or manufacturing firms, and submitted false documents, like fake ID cards and trading contracts, to the banks.

Officers said the investigation is still on-going and the force will continue to liaise with law enforcement bodies from the mainland and in Europe.-RTHK/The Standard