Hong Kong police arrested 22 people in a two-day operation targeting an alleged cross-border money-laundering group. They were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money. Police estimate the group laundered more than HK$150 million between August and October, after becoming active locally in August.
Police said the group recruited people travelling from mainland China on two-way permits and supplied them with phones to open local bank accounts online. Some were taken to fast-food outlets in shopping centres to set up the accounts, which allegedly received suspected criminal proceeds and fraud money.
The group also recruited people to withdraw cash using cards linked to the accounts. Police said withdrawals were spread across ATMs at different locations and banks to make detection and investigation harder. Runners collected the cash at short-term rental units or guesthouses, then took it to a shop posing as an over-the-counter virtual-currency exchange. Police described the shop as the group’s laundering hub, where criminal proceeds were allegedly handled through methods including virtual-currency trading.
Police said two local core members controlled the hub. Of the 20 mainland people arrested, one was allegedly a runner who recruited people to withdraw cash, distributed bank cards and collected and carried cash. The other 19 were account-opening intermediaries, people who withdrew cash, or holders of accounts used to receive criminal proceeds.
Police estimated that accounts controlled by the group were linked to at least 390 local fraud cases, involving about HK$18 million in scam money.
All 22 people were being detained for investigation, and police said further arrests had not been ruled out. The operation also yielded more than 1,600 bank cards, about HK$5.85 million in cash and more than 200 mobile phones.