The criminal syndicate induced foreign domestic helpers to open bank accounts and laundered nearly 27 million yuan.
The police allege that a money laundering syndicate controlled by an African-Nigerian was discovered. The scammers recruited local domestic helpers for 1,000 to several thousand yuan, opened a local bank account to collect the proceeds of the fraud, and used the user's account to launder money.
From July last year to May this year, the group used at least 35 puppet accounts opened by foreign domestic helpers to launder more than 27 million Hong Kong dollars in criminal proceeds.
Part of the money involved at least 20 online romances and 2 email scams in Hong Kong, in which the victims lost a total of more than 13 million Hong Kong dollars.
Detectives of the Police Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Division arrested 29 people from July 26 to 27 this year, including 2 Nigerian group leaders, 3 key members and 24 foreign domestic helpers working in Hong Kong. The foreign domestic helpers were arrested as puppet accounts. Holder, charged with conspiracy to launder money.
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Encourage foreign domestic helpers to open bank accounts and collect fraudulent funds
In this operation, the police successfully arrested the masterminds and key members of the puppet account group and cracked down on an active Hong Kong money laundering group.
The Acting Chief Inspector of the Police Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Division, Chen Xuelin, said that the money laundering syndicate has been in operation for about a year. The syndicate uses 1,000 to thousands of mosquitoes as remuneration to solicit and lure local domestic helpers, open local bank accounts, and instruct them Give the ATM card and password to the key members of the group, and the account will be used to collect fraudulent funds.
The account frauds came from at least 20 online romances and 2 email scams, in which the victims suffered a total loss of more than 13 million Hong Kong dollars.
According to the police, online love scams claim to be professionals working in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, including engineers and multinational corporate managers.
The scammers get to know the victim through social platforms and quickly establish a romantic relationship with the victim. They then use different excuses to defraud money, including the urgent need for cash flow and the claim that they send expensive gifts to the victim from overseas, but they need to pay customs clearance fees and handling fees.
After the victim deposits the money in the puppet account, the key members will use the bank card to withdraw the fraudulent money in cash at the teller machine within a short period of time, and then give it to the head of the group.
The 20 online love scams occurred from July last year to May this year. The victims included 4 men and 16 women, aged between 21 and 73, with losses ranging from more than 7,000 yuan to 1.68 million yuan.
The biggest loss was a 46-year-old female secretary. She met a computer technician who claimed to be from Cyprus on the dating app. After defrauding her of about 1.68 million yuan, she lost contact. The female victim reported to the police in January this year.
The other two email scams occurred from July to December last year. The victims were a local accounting company and an overseas clothing company, and the losses were about 140,000 and 400,000 yuan.
Two main brains of the group arrested for police inspection of 100 bank cards
After investigation by the police, arrests were carried out in various places in Hong Kong and Kowloon on the 26th and 27th of this month. They arrested key members of the syndicate for conspiracy to "money laundering". They seized a cash counter and about 33 persons from the arrested person's body and residence. Ten thousand yuan in cash and more than 100 bank cards were suspected of withdrawing criminal proceeds from the teller machine.
The main brains of the group are two Nigerian men. They hold bank paper and Hong Kong ID cards, respectively, and declare that they are unemployed and engaged in trading business. It is reported that they are friends.
As for the three key members, two of them are Filipino women. They hold street paper and Hong Kong ID card respectively. The other Nigerian man holds street paper. They all reported unemployed.
The three arrested backbone members were mainly responsible for inducing foreign domestic helpers to sell their bank accounts. When the account received the proceeds of fraud, the members would go to the teller machine to withdraw money.
The other 24 puppet account holders are all foreign domestic workers working locally, 23 are Filipino and one is Indonesian. They are between 29 and 51 years old.
During the operation, the police also frozen over 1.5 million yuan in bank accounts involved in the case.
A total of 5 leaders and key members of the group were detained for investigation. 24 foreign domestic helpers have been released on bail and must report to the police in late September.
The police are tracing the whereabouts of the fraud, and it is not ruled out that another person will be arrested.
Police appeal to employers of foreign domestic helpers to remind foreign domestic helpers not to sell or lend out their accounts
The Acting Superintendent of the Police Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Division Tang Kai-tong pointed out that fraudsters may benefit the public to assist in money laundering. If the public lends or sells their accounts without a reasonable reason, once the accounts are used for money laundering purposes, the account holders may commit offences. Conspiracy to launder money.
According to the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Chapter 455 of the Laws of Hong Kong, the maximum penalty upon conviction is 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$5 million.
The police appealed to employers of foreign domestic helpers to remind their domestic helpers not to easily sell or lend their accounts, or to assist friends or others with money from unknown sources, otherwise they may commit the crime of "money laundering".
In addition, the police designed a batch of leaflets to remind helpers to pay attention to the relevant situation. The police will also actively maintain contact with consulates, the financial industry and different organizations to remind the public to pay attention to the latest criminal tactics and anti-money laundering messages.
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