Biggest money-laundering syndicate busted

Stacy Shi

Nine people, including a 56-year-old housewife and alleged syndicate leader, were arrested in what Customs officials described as Hong Kong's biggest money-laundering case in history involving HK$6 billion.

The group operated out of a flat in Whampoa Garden in Hung Hom - the first time Customs officials found a suspected laundering racket renting private housing with tight security, making the investigation more difficult.

Earlier this month, officers raided 10 residential units in North Point, Tai Wai, Kwai Chung and Siu Sai Wan, eight companies and one currency exchange stall, and seized about HK$3.9 million in cash, along with checkbooks, company chops and computers, and froze HK$16 million in bank deposits.

Yeung Yuk-man, head of the financial investigation group of the Customs and Excise Department, said three men and six women, aged between 39 to 68, are accused of opening 36 individual and 21 company bank accounts, and laundering HK$6 billion via more than 7,600 transactions between January 2020 and December last year.

Six were unemployed, while the remaining three were a businessman, company manager and insurance broker, earning between HK$20,000 and HK$100,000 a month, but operated more than 10 companies engaged in import and export trade, and food and metal materials sales, which officials said were shell companies.

They were reported to be sole directors of the companies, but there was no company operating at the registered address. Neither were there tax records, and their background and financial status were highly disproportionate to the large, suspicious bank transactions.

Officers found the nine people frequenting a flat in Whampoa Garden, rented by the ringleader, since mid-2021.

Yeung said she was responsible for remitting money from unknown sources to an exchange store, sending members to withdraw large amounts of cash from the store and depositing them into different bank accounts in batches to avoid unwanted attention.

"The counter-parties involved over 800 personal accounts and about 2,000 company accounts, with the largest single transaction exceeding HK$31 million," Yeung said. "And the amount of transactions are not in line with their company's background and size."

Rita Li Yim-ping, head of the Syndicate Crimes Investigation Bureau, said the group was highly organized, and the security around the private residence was rather tight.

"Customs will strengthen the communications with banks and regulatory bodies to combat illegal activities, including money laundering," Li said.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com