Hong Kong police have arrested 20 people, including 14 Indonesian domestic workers, on suspicion of providing and using “stooge” bank accounts for laundering more than HK$10 million.
Six Hong Kong men and 14 Indonesian women, aged between 29 and 63, were apprehended over the weekend for conspiring to commit money laundering in connection with a series of deception cases, police said in a press conference on Monday.
Controlled by triads
Acting Chief Inspector Eric So of the Kowloon East Regional Crime Unit told the press that a local syndicate had targeted foreign domestic workers and lured them to create stooge accounts by offering monetary reward between HK$1,000 to HK$2,500.
According to police investigation, members of the syndicate would open bank accounts with the foreign domestic workers in parks, fast food shops or hotel rooms using mobile applications. The accounts were fully controlled by the syndicate.
Once a deposit from a fraud victim was made into the stooge account, the money would be transferred to other accounts for “cleansing” to evade police investigation, So said.
Among the arrestees, six men and two women were identified as core members of the syndicate, while 12 people were holders of the stooge accounts. Some had ties to triads, police said.
The arrestees were said to have opened at least 17 bank accounts to launder more than HK$10 million of criminal proceeds. The financial gains came from 39 fraud cases that took place between last November and April, including shopping scams, advance fee fraud and online romance scams. The total losses from the scams stood at around HK$5.4 million.
“Police believe that this criminal syndicate is controlled by triads,” Senior Inspector Adrian Ng of the Kowloon East Regional Crime Unit said in Cantonese. He added the police operation had successfully dissolved a syndicate that was active in local money laundering.
The arrestees had been detained for investigation.
Heavier penalty
So warned members of the public, including migrant domestic workers, that lending, renting or selling their accounts to a syndicate could contravene the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance.
“Allowing your personal bank account to be used by criminals for receiving the proceeds of crime constitutes the offence of money laundering,” So said.
See also: Hong Kong police arrest 100 suspects linked to scams totalling HK$180 million in losses
Anyone convicted of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence could face a fine of up to HK$5 million and 14 years of imprisonment.
So added the police may seek advice from the Department of Justice and ask the court to impose a heavier penalty on stooge account holders, depending on the nature and severity of the case.
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