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Hong Kong police arrest 8 on suspicion of laundering HK$10 million in crime proceeds, producing fake banknotes

  • Six men, two women arrested on Friday, with three of them believed to be core members of a syndicate
  • Police also found 25 fake HK$500 banknotes of ‘low quality’ during the operation and are investigating source, whereabouts of the illegal funds

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Hong Kong police have arrested eight people on suspicion of laundering more than HK$10 million and producing fake banknotes. Photo: Warton Li

Hong Kong police have arrested eight people on suspicion of laundering more than HK$10 million (US$1.27 million) in crime proceeds from 30 fraud cases last year and producing fake banknotes.

Police said of the six men and two women arrested on Friday, three were believed to be core members of a syndicate, while the rest were local bank account holders.

The suspects, including one Thai, are aged 29 to 73.

Police seized bank cards, phones, electronic devices and fake banknotes during the operation. Photo: Handout
Police seized bank cards, phones, electronic devices and fake banknotes during the operation. Photo: Handout

Tai Cheuk-yin, acting chief inspector for the force’s financial intelligence and investigation bureau, said they were looking into the whereabouts of the illegal funds.

“During the arrests, we confiscated their bank cards, phones and electronic devices. We also found 25 fake HK$500 banknotes, with a total value of HK$12,500, as well as materials for making them, including paper and encrypted computers.

“The quality of the fake banknotes is very low, so residents can [easily] distinguish them from real ones … We are tracking whether these fake banknotes have entered the market,” Tai added.

The fraud cases occurred between May and December last year, involving seven male and 23 female victims, with total losses amounting to HK$65 million. Seventeen of the cases related to investment shams, 12 were online romance scams and 1 concerned online shopping fraud.

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