Hong Kong Customs arrested two 33-year-old local men on August 19, 2026, for allegedly selling their personal bank accounts to help an illicit group launder about HK$35 million in criminal proceeds. The case involved large and frequent transfers through personal accounts.
The investigation began after Customs followed up on a drug case detected in 2025. Officers then conducted a wealth investigation and analysed the flow of funds through the accounts.
The first man, who reportedly worked in telecommunications maintenance, had previously recorded only several hundred to several thousand dollars in monthly account activity. Within a month of the account being sold, it received more than HK$1.7 million in unexplained payments from numerous third-party accounts. The money generally remained in the account for no more than two days before being transferred out.
Ming Pao reported that the man was allegedly asked by the laundering group to live and spend money in Shenzhen temporarily, creating the appearance of starting a business on the mainland and leaving a record of his daily life there. The report said he received several hundred dollars a day for living expenses, while the group’s operators went to his hotel room to operate his mobile phone and online banking. Almost all of the HK$1.7 million was transferred to the account of the second arrested man.
The second man, who reportedly worked as a logistics assistant, had an account that received about HK$33.5 million in unexplained funds between January and August 2024. The money was transferred out within a short period to a large number of third-party accounts. The account recorded more than 5,800 transactions involving over 1,000 counterparties, a pattern reported to be inconsistent with an ordinary personal account and the man’s financial background.
The two men are suspected of offences involving the handling of property they knew or believed to represent the proceeds of an indictable offence. The allegations have not been presented as convictions.
Customs said it would continue investigating the backgrounds of the arrested men, the sources and destinations of the funds, and the laundering group allegedly involved. The department said it did not rule out further arrests.