Police arrest 6 linked to 46 fraud cases, totaling HK$13.66m

Six people were arrested as police dismantled a fraud and money laundering syndicate linked to 46 fraud cases, including online romance scams, loans and investment scams, with total losses amounting to HK$13.66 million.

Authorities reported that the transactions associated with the syndicate’s key members from June 2023 to January 2025 reached HK$290 million.

During a two-day operation, 19 ATM cards believed to belong to dummy account holders and HK$250,000 in cash were seized, while approximately HK$600,000 in assets in the accounts of two key members were frozen.

The syndicate rented two units in Tsuen Wan as the base of operations, where syndicate members would lure individuals from the mainland to set up online bank accounts at the above addresses, subsequently asking them to hand over their bank cards and passwords in exchange for incentives.

When scam funds were deposited into the accounts, the members would withdraw the money within 30 minutes and transfer it to cryptocurrency accounts, with some cashed out to evade police detection.

Among those arrested are three core members and three dummy account holders, including one holder of a two-way permit and several local residents.

Aged between 19 and 39, some were unemployed, while other arrestees claimed to be employed as photographers, warehouse staff, and waiters and are currently detained for further investigation.

The police cautioned the public that selling or lending personal bank accounts to criminal groups would violate the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison and a HK$5 million fine.

New measures to strengthen fraud response

To combat fraud and money laundering, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) jointly announced today a series of new measures aimed at preventing, detecting, and combating financial crimes, including fraud and related dummy account networks. 

Five major initiatives were introduced: expanded use of Scameter data with banks to identify suspicious accounts and potential risks, bank-to-bank information sharing when prohibited conduct was detected, introduction of good anti-fraud practices with banks, regular thematic reviews with banks, and enhanced public education of “Don’t Lend/Sell Your Account” by an Anti-Fraud Education Taskforce by the HKAB comprising 18 major banks.

According to reports, the number of money laundering prosecutions in 2024 increased by 2.3 times that of 2023.

As of early April 2025, the sentences for 95 dummy account holders have been increased by 13 percent to 33 percent, ranging from 21 to 75 months.