The loan or sale of bank accounts is used for illegal purposes, and "ignorance" cannot be a reason for disclaimer.
The police said that in the first nine months of this year, there were 660 money laundering cases in Hong Kong. The number of arrests has more than doubled compared with the same period last year. It is believed that criminal syndicates have used social media to solicit extensively and used the public's "quick money" and fluke mentality to provide Thousands of dollars in remuneration persuades to sell bank accounts, and the target is no longer just for a certain class or age group.
The police arrested 43 people in two recent anti-money laundering operations. Among them, 34 were foreign domestic helpers. Their bank accounts were used as puppets to launder approximately RMB 39 million of criminal proceeds. The maximum amount of a single account was approximately RMB 2.4 million.
The number of arrests increases, the police: criminal groups use social media to recruit puppets
In the first nine months of this year, the police received 660 money laundering cases. The number of cases fell from about 830 in the same period last year. However, the number of arrests reached 661, which is more than twice the number of arrests compared with more than 200 in the same period last year. The number of prosecutions also increased. Increased by 40% from 53 cases to 76 cases.
Chief Inspector of the Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Team, Li Weijun, explained that the number of cases has decreased but the number of detainees has increased. Because of the involvement of group operations and the use of social media to solicit bank accounts for money laundering purposes, the target is no longer targeted at a certain class or age group. .
"In addition to the economic downturn in recent years, criminals have taken advantage of the public's quick cash and fluke mentality. Often they can buy their bank accounts with only a few thousand mosquitoes." Li Weijun mentioned, virtual banks, stored-value payment tools, virtual With the rise of currency, money laundering methods will involve cross-border and transnational borders, making it more difficult for the police to investigate. The puppet accounts purchased are handed over to other places, and it is more difficult to trace the hiding places. The police will strengthen ties with the industry and overseas institutions.
Thousand yuan remuneration to induce foreign domestic helpers to sell accounts
The Chief Inspector of the Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Team, Chen Zhongxin, said that recently it was discovered that foreign domestic helpers became "special groups" who were lured into selling puppet accounts. They were generally contacted by anonymous messages on social platforms or on the phone, and they were persuaded to sell their bank accounts. A return ranging from 1,000 yuan to several thousand yuan is an attractive price for foreign domestic helpers.
79% of people arrested in two operations involved foreign domestic helpers
The police took two enforcement actions in June and July this year, involving 23 million yuan and 27 million yuan in criminal proceeds respectively. Most of them came from fraud cases. Among them, there were more than 50 cases involving online love scams, and a small number of them involved emails. Scam.
The police arrested 43 people in two operations. Among them, 34 account holders were local foreign domestic helpers. The foreign domestic helpers accounted for the processing of approximately HK$39 million in criminal proceeds. The largest single case involved approximately 2.4 million yuan.
There are cases where foreign domestic helpers sold 7 or 8 bank accounts to criminals.
Unreasonable reason to borrow and sell bank accounts will also violate the law
Many original account holders said they did not know.
Senior Inspector of the Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Team, Yang Chin-wing reminded that citizens who lend or sell their bank accounts without reasonable grounds, once they are used for money laundering, may have the opportunity to violate 25( Article 1), that is, "If anyone knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that any property, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly represents the benefit of any person from an indictable crime, and still disposes of the property, it is a crime." The conviction is punishable by a fine 5 million yuan and imprisonment for 14 years.
The Wealth Intelligence and Investigation Division has launched an anti-money laundering program called the "Housekeeper Alliance", arranged for mobile vehicles to be promoted in the community, and contacted the consulate for cooperation.
The ICAC sued three people for defrauding 3.5 million yuan and the manager of ICBC (Asia) branch for money laundering, falsely claiming that four shopping malls refurbished floors. 130 million yuan in money laundering, 300 million yuan in cocaine, 6 people detained
