A 38-year-old man who reported as a casual worker and lived in Lung Hang Village, Tai Wai, was suspected of opening 15 bank accounts in 7 different banks between November 2019 and May 2022, and handling 1,500 suspicious large-scale transactions in the amount of Up to 370 million yuan.
Customs arrested the man yesterday (27th) and froze the deposit of 7 million yuan in his account.
Lei Wing-chun, Senior Investigation Officer of the Wealth Investigation Division of the Organised Crime Investigation Division of the Customs, told the case, saying that in the middle of this year, Hong Kong Customs, based on intelligence, identified a local man and suspected him of being involved in money laundering activities.
Yesterday (September 27) Customs Enforcement arrested a 38-year-old local man who reported as a casual worker. He was suspected of opening 15 bank accounts in 7 different banks between November 2019 and May 2022, processing 1,500 Suspicious huge transaction amounting to 370 million yuan.
In terms of personal accounts, the arrested person has opened 8 personal accounts in 4 different banks since the end of 2019. After opening the accounts, he conducted frequent high-value transactions with a single transaction amount of up to 2.5 million yuan.
The arrested person used his personal account to collect 80 million yuan from 140 third-party personal accounts, and then transferred the money to another 120 third-party personal accounts, involving a total of 1,000 transactions.
All in all, more than 200 third-party personal accounts were collected from the personal accounts of the arrested persons, and then transferred to other banks.
In terms of company accounts, the arrested person established a suspected shell company at the end of 2020 and served as the sole director of the company.
The company falsely claimed to be in the business of trading furniture and cleaning supplies.
However, according to overseas investigations, his company address has no actual business, no customs declaration records, and no tax declaration records, and he is suspected of money laundering in the name of a shell company.
In just one month, the arrested person opened 7 company accounts in 3 different banks, and received huge remittances from a third-party shell company, collecting 290 million yuan in one year and processing more than 500 transactions.
The largest single transaction involved up to 15 million yuan.
According to the investigation results, these third-party shell companies have no actual business. Although they reported trading business, they have no customs declaration records and no relevant supporting documents.
It is a typical money laundering method that the arrested person collects a large amount of money and then just stays there for a short time and then transfers it away.
The arrested person lives in public housing, has no property under his name, and reports that he earns about 10,000 yuan per month as a casual worker. However, from November 2019 to May 2022, he handled a total of HK$370 million, and his account transaction records and financial status are extremely inconsistent. commensurate.
The arrested person is being released on bail pending further investigation.
Customs investigation also found that there was a deposit of 7 million yuan in the account of the arrested person. Customs had frozen the funds on the day of the arrest for further investigation.
Customs seized mobile phones, computers, bank documents and monthly statements.
Customs will continue to investigate based on the source and flow of funds.