Four arrested for fabricating income to secure $70m mortgages

Police have arrested four people for allegedly conspiring to defraud multiple financial institutions out of around HK$70 million in property mortgage loans. 

Officers from the Commercial Crime Bureau conducted an operation codenamed VANTAGEVIEW on Tuesday, arresting three men and one woman aged between 30 and 42 at various locations in the city. Two male suspects claimed to be property agents, while the third was a company director. The woman is said to be a nurse. 

Police said the syndicate, between 2021 and 2023, allegedly used shell companies to fabricate employment and salary records in order to overstate its financial standing and secure mortgage loans worth about HK$70 million from three financial institutions for a residential property.

During the raids, officers searched multiple premises, including company offices and the suspects’ residences. Police seized evidence including mobile phones, computers, corporate and banking records, as well as company chops believed to have been used to forge official documents.

Police said further investigations are ongoing and additional arrests have not been ruled out.

Under Hong Kong law, conspiracy to defraud, fraud, and using a false instrument carry a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment upon conviction.

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