A 53-year-old man, who provided his personal details to a criminal syndicate for registering an Amap ride-hailing driver account for loaning to unlicensed workers, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.
Three individuals involved in the case, including the one responsible for hiring for the syndicate, are wanted.
It is understood that the criminal syndicate was loaning the account to illegal workers to pick up passengers for income, while the arrestee was using other accounts provided by the group to work as a driver for the ride-hailing platform.
Investigation revealed that the syndicate involved has been operating for about two months earning commission from it. Police noted that they are still investigating the scale of the syndicate, the number of accounts involved, and will continue probing the ride-hailing platforms and service providers to identify other similar accounts and the whereabouts of related vehicles.
The incident was brought to attention after a passenger recently used the Amap ride-hailing app to book a car and noticed that the driver failed to communicate in Cantonese and instead, was only able to respond in Mandarin.
The driver admitted that he did not possess an HKID and had entered the city on a business visa from the mainland and held a driver’s license. He was using his employer’s private car to provide ride-hailing services.
The complainant stated that while the driver’s skills were not an issue, operating as an unlicensed worker without a Hong Kong ID constituted illegal employment, thus he reported the incident to the police.
He criticized Amap for having loopholes that allow non-locals to provide services, potentially without third-party insurance, leaving passengers unprotected in case of accidents.
