A 59-year-old foreign national who serves as a senior executive for a Hong Kong-listed company has been defrauded of HK$74 million over two years in a sophisticated international green bond scam.
Beginning in early 2024, the victim was targeted by fraudsters impersonating senior executives from a private bank in the United Kingdom.
To establish credibility, the syndicate paid out over HK$4.5 million in fake dividend returns throughout the scheme, convincing the executive of the investment’s legitimacy before disappearing when he refused to deposit more funds.
Syndicate uses British country codes and corporate emails to build credibility
The fraud began in January 2024 when the executive received cold calls from phone numbers bearing the United Kingdom country code (+44).
The caller claimed to be a senior executive at a British private bank and pitched a high-yield fixed-rate equity-linked green bond.
Enticed by the offer, the victim remained in communication with the scammer and several accomplices via overseas calls and email addresses disguised to match the domain of the legitimate financial institution.
Following the group's instructions, the executive set up an investment account.
Between February and December 2024, he authorized seven separate wire transfers totaling 5 million British pounds from his two Hong Kong bank accounts directly into a British bank account controlled by the syndicate's co-conspirators.
Fraudsters engineer trust through millions in dividend payouts
To cement the victim's confidence and encourage ongoing payments, the syndicate executed a structured payout plan.
Between April 2024 and April 2025, the fraud group transferred 43 separate dividend payments totaling approximately 350,000 British pounds directly into the victim's bank account.
This payout strategy convinced the executive to transfer an additional 1 million British pounds across two transactions in April 2025.
To further validate the transaction, the syndicate deposited an additional dividend payout of roughly 80,000 British pounds into his account two months later.
Dividend payments ceased entirely after June 2025. When the victim inquired about the missing funds, the fraudsters offered various excuses for the delay and convinced him to wire three additional payments totaling 1 million British pounds between October 2025 and January 2026 under the pretense of processing the overdue payouts.
Demands for extra capital reveal fraud as international police investigate
The scheme unraveled in January when the syndicate abruptly requested further capital deposits without settling the unpaid dividends.
When the executive refused to send additional funds, the group cut off all communication.
In April 2026, the victim officially notified the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and his local banks, requesting payment recall demands to the receiving financial institution in the United Kingdom.
Both banks subsequently confirmed that the syndicate's overseas accounts had already been cleared out, leaving minimal remaining balances.
After submitting an online report to Action Fraud, the United Kingdom's national fraud and cybercrime reporting center, without receiving a resolution, the executive formally reported the case to Hong Kong authorities on August 12.
The case is now being actively investigated by the District Crime Squad of Wong Tai *Sin*.
