13 individuals arrested for money laundering involving $113m

Nine men and four women were arrested in connection with a money laundering case involving HK$113 million in a police operation targeting a local money-laundering syndicate on Wednesday and Thursday. 

The 13 suspects, aged 38 to 75, are reported to be unemployed, cleaners, construction workers, and waiters; while some have alleged triad links.

Together with 12 people arrested earlier between October and January, a total of 25 suspects tied to the syndicate have been detained. Investigations have linked the group to 105 fraud cases across Hong Kong.

Most of the cases involved online job scams, with losses totalling about HK$8 million. After victims were deceived, the syndicate instructed them to transfer funds to designated stored-value payment accounts or bank accounts. 

The proceeds were then moved into other local bank accounts to be laundered. Between June 2025 and January 2026, the group is suspected of laundering HK$113 million.

Police has noted a rise in scams using stored-value payment accounts as mule accounts towards the end of 2025. 

Police traced funds through mule accounts and reviewed CCTV footage to identify the ringleader and core members of the syndicate.

It was understood that the syndicate placed newspaper job advertisements and asked applicants to open accounts with a popular digital payment platform, claiming the accounts were needed for work registration and payroll. When applicants called the contact number in the ad, gang members would accompany them to self-service registration kiosks to set up the digital accounts. 

During registration, the gang used prepared mobile phones to log into and bind the applicants' accounts, then relied on the applicants' digital identities to pass identity verification for stored-value payment accounts. These accounts were subsequently used to receive criminal proceeds and forward them to other local accounts for laundering.

Following the raids, the police intercepted about HK$2 million in criminal proceeds. Police urged job seekers to remain vigilant, not to disclose personal information to strangers, and to protect their identities on payment platforms. Anyone who suspects they have been involved in such should contact the police and their bank immediately.