THOUSAND ARRESTED IN FRAUD DRAGNET
Suspects aged 14 to 89 swept up in operation AttackPlan are accused of internet and phone scams duping victims out of some HK$2.2 billion
Police have arrested 1,121 people in a three-week crackdown on fraud syndicates accused of using internet and phone scams to dupe victims out of about HK$2.2 billion.
The force yesterday said the suspects comprised 768 men and 353 women, aged 14 to 89, linked to 952 cases of deception and technology-based crimes, mainly employment, shopping and investment scams.
Those arrested in the operation between March 25 and April 11, code-named AttackPlan, were suspected of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud and obtaining property by deception, according to the force.
Acting Senior Superintendent Chow Cheung-yau of police’s financial intelligence and investigation bureau, said local officers had exchanged information with the mainland’s National AntiFraud Centre as part of their investigation.
The operation also brought down a cross-border syndicate believed to have laundered more than HK$230 million in suspected crime proceeds in March, he said.
Chow added the tally of suspects included eight mainland men and a local woman, aged 29 to 48, suspected of working for the syndicate.
“They recruited mainlanders to come to Hong Kong via various checkpoints and provided them with accommodation,” he said.
“They were then instructed to go to different banks in the city to set up stooge accounts used to collect scam money and launder the crime proceeds.”
The account holders then withdrew the funds and used the money to buy cryptocurrency at local over-the-counter outlets to conceal the flow of illicit cash, Chow said. “The investigation revealed the syndicate used at least 45 stooge accounts to collect and launder HK$239 million between last October and February this year,” he said.
Chow said the money included
HK$25 million linked to 36 scam cases reported in Hong Kong.
Chow said police had noticed an increase in the use of mainlanders sent to Hong Kong to create bank accounts on behalf of crime syndicates since the city lifted its pandemic travel curbs at the start of last year.
Police would step up enforcement efforts and work closely with their counterparts on the mainland and overseas to combat cross-border money laundering, he added.
Chief Inspector Tang Kwokhin of the force’s cybersecurity and technology crime bureau urged the public to use police’s Scameter fraud detection app to check for suspicious phone numbers and websites.
Acting Superintendent Or Wing-yan of the commercial crime bureau said her officers had arrested 22 people on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering in a separate crackdown.
The suspects comprised six men and 16 women, aged 19 to 59.
Three of the men were Hongkongers and believed to be the leader and core members of a fraud syndicate, police said.
Thirteen of the suspects worked as domestic helpers, with an investigation finding the syndicate paid them to use their bank accounts to handle suspected crime proceeds, the force added.
“We would like to ask employers to remind their domestic helpers not to sell their bank accounts, or hand them over to others for illegal use,” Or said.
Police also vowed to step up publicity and education efforts through migrant workers’ groups to discourage such activities.
In Hong Kong, money laundering is punishable by up to 14 years in jail and a HK$5 million fine.
Last year, police recorded 39,824 cases of fraud involving losses of more than HK$9.1 billion in total.
Chow said 27,314 of the cases, about 70 per cent, were online scams that resulted in losses totalling HK$5.3 billion.