Police arrest 11 for defrauding govt of HK$3.9m, laundering HK$124m

Police arrested 11 people over the past two days for money laundering and fraud, with their crime proceeds exceeding HK$124 million, including some HK$3.9 million cheated from the government’s 100 percent loan guarantee scheme. 

Police revealed that the arrests on Thursday and Friday involved five men and six women aged 22 to 39. Three of them were non-Chinese women. 

Five of them were core members of the syndicate, and the rest were holders of stooge bank accounts. 

The syndicate kept a so-called cryptocurrency shop which had no commercial registration at all. The premises were used for keeping their crime proceeds, and police seized about HK$600,000 in cash there. 

One of the arrestees was intercepted outside the shop and caught carrying some HK$200,000 as well. 

Police also raided the syndicate’s base in Tsim Sha Tsui and seized a large number of ATM cards, phones, checkbooks, and documents used for their scams. 

One of the core members used two private companies, in both he was the director, to defraud about HK$3.9 million from the government’s 100 percent loan guarantee scheme by using false bank statements. Another unsuccessful loan application involved about HK$2.65 million. 

Investigations found that the arrestees used at least 52 bank accounts to launder over HK$124 million between last October and this August. The syndicate was also linked to over 20 cases, ranging from loan, commercial, investment, and email scams. 

Police believe they have smashed the triad-run crime syndicate for good. 

Police added they are now actively investigating the whereabouts of other crime proceeds. The arrestees were remanded in custody, and police may make more arrests. 

Police also remind citizens not to rent or sell their bank accounts, securities accounts, or accounts on other payment platforms to handle sums and assets of unknown origin. 

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