Manipulation of foreign domestic helpers to open accounts and money laundering involved 30 online dating scams, police arrested 14 people in the group and paid $12 million

Burst

Written by: Cai Zhengbang

2021-06-21 16:40

Last update date: 2021-06-21 16:44

The police detected 30 online romance scams and arrested 14 people, including 4 Nigerian masterminds and key members, and 10 puppet account holders, involving more than 12 million people.

Among the 10 puppet account holders, 8 are foreign domestic helpers working in Hong Kong.

They are suspected of committing crimes of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and resisting arrest.

The 30 victims were 2 men and 28 women, aged between 22 and 64 years old, and their losses ranged from 1,400 yuan to 2.4 million yuan.

Superintendent Liu Qipeng of the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Police stated that the police had taken an operation codenamed "Beidou" in March this year and found that many local bank accounts opened by foreign domestic helpers were involved in online fraud cases and successfully targeted a non-Chinese criminal group suspected of manipulating foreign workers. The commissioner opens a local bank account, receives and launders money.

After two consecutive days of operations from June 16 to 17, 14 members of the syndicate were arrested, including 1 mastermind, 3 key members, and 10 puppet account holders, and seized more than 1.5 million yuan in cash.

The police believe that the group operated from December 2020 to June this year, using 21 accounts to launder 12 million yuan in benefits, and it was involved in at least 30 online love scams.

According to the police, four Nigerian men, three of them with Hong Kong identity cards and one holding street paper, are between 35 and 42 years old, are the main brains and backbone members of the syndicate. They were arrested in Tai Kok Tsui and Causeway Bay respectively.

The bank cards belonging to the foreign domestic helpers were found on the two men. After the main brain was located at the company address of Mirador Mansion, 1.5 million yuan of suspicious cash was seized.

As for the 10 puppet account holders arrested, they were 1 man and 9 women, aged between 30 and 53 years old, and 8 of them were foreign domestic helpers.

The 14 arrested persons were suspected of "conspiracy to defraud", "conspiracy to commit money laundering" and "refusal to make up".

Chief Inspector Li Weijun pointed out that after investigation, it is believed that this non-Chinese money laundering group defrauded 30 Hong Kong people from January last year to June this year. They were 2 males and 28 females, aged between 22 and 64, with diverse occupations. Including clerks, professionals, students, housewives, retirees, etc., the losses ranged from 1,400 yuan to 2.4 million yuan.

The biggest loss of 2.4 million yuan was a lady, and the fraud lasted 10 months.

Senior Inspector Tang Guoxuan explained the operation of the group, criminal elements will solicit and induce foreign domestic helpers to open local bank accounts.

The foreign helper handed over the bank card and password to the key members in exchange for a return of several hundred to several thousand yuan.

When the fraudulent money is deposited into the puppet account, the key members use a bank card to withdraw cash from the account and hand it to the master.

The main brain deposits cash in the company's account, and then transfers it to different places, including local, mainland or overseas companies, to cover up the illegal source of black money.

Deng added that online love scams have more than doubled from 267 cases in January to April last year to 517 in the same period this year.

The amount involved increased from 81.5 million yuan in the same period last year to 196 million yuan in the same period this year, a substantial increase of 140%.

The scammer used social platforms to quickly establish online romantic relationships with the victim, claiming to be from Europe, America, Southeast Asia engineers, multinational company management, etc., defrauding money for reasons such as cash flow, expensive gift clearance fees, etc., and cancel the account immediately after success. Social numbers, email addresses, etc.

The police urged citizens to be cautious when making friends online. They should not trust them easily when netizens ask for money, nor should they deposit money into suspicious accounts.

The police reiterated that whether you use your own bank account or provide it to other people for illegal purposes, it may constitute a crime of money laundering. Once convicted, the maximum penalty can be imprisoned for 14 years and a fine of 5 million yuan. The public should not try the law.

If you have any questions, please call the 24-hour fraud prevention hotline 18222.

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