Authorities in Hong Kong, working with police from mainland China, have shut down a money laundering operation that used cryptocurrency and hundreds of fake bank accounts to transfer around HK$118 million (roughly $15 million).
The investigation led to the arrest of 12 people on May 15, nine men and three women, according to a report from Hong Kong Commercial Daily published on May 17.
According to Senior Inspector Tse Ka-lun of the Commercial Crime Bureau, many of the bank accounts used were opened by friends or relatives of those involved. This helped the group avoid detection while moving money through what appeared to be personal or low-risk accounts.
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On the day of the operation, two members of the group were followed as they left the apartment, one headed to a bank branch, the other to an ATM. After withdrawing cash, they went to a crypto exchange shop in Tsim Sha Tsui to convert the funds.
Officers stepped in before the transaction happened and arrested them with around HK$770,000 (about $98,500) in hand. Police later arrested the other 10 suspects.
Searches carried out as part of the operation led to the recovery of about HK$1.05 million (roughly $134,000), along with over 560 ATM cards, mobile phones, banking paperwork, and records of crypto transactions.
Additionally, investigators have already tied over HK$9.4 million (more than $1.2 million) from the operation to 58 separate fraud cases.
On May 14, European authorities arrested 17 people for operating a crypto-based network that laundered over $23 million for other criminal groups. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.
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