Hong Kong authorities arrested 4 people and confiscated HK $ 1.2 billion in an electronic fraud case

In the recently resolved cryptocurrency money laundering case, Hong Kong authorities arrested 4 people and confiscated HK $ 1.2 billion. This is known to be a huge amount of money the suspects have laundered through bank accounts in Singapore over the past 15 months.

Hong Kong authorities arrested 4 people and confiscated HK $ 1.2 billion in electronic fraud case vụ

With this in mind, Hong Kong Customs launched Operation Coin Breaker last week on July 8th. Mark Woo Wai-kwan, Senior Director of Customs Contract Crime Investigation Division, said:

“This is the first time in Hong Kong that a money laundering round using cryptocurrencies to launder dirty money and hide the source of criminal assets has been broken.”

Wai Kwan also points out that the nature of the fraud and how it is carried out make it even more difficult to trace. The alleged mastermind controlled 3 mailbox companies in order to launder this money. As a result, authorities have frozen suspicious HKD 20 million bank accounts that are believed to be part of those criminal funds.

Hong Kong authorities arrested 4 people and confiscated HK $ 1.2 billion – a fraud that lasted 15 months

The organization behind this scam has been operating since February 2020. Speaking to the SCMP publication, Senior Director Woo said:

“Three men were recruited into the organization with cash rewards and each received between HK $ 10,000 and HK $ 20,000 a month.”

In addition, the letterbox companies opened three e-wallet accounts with a local trading platform for cryptocurrencies. Here they will trade so-called privacy coins with Stablecoin Tether. The virtual currencies involved in these transactions used 40 such e-wallet accounts. The company then transferred that money to eight mailbox accounts from three mailbox companies.

Law enforcement agencies point out that the organization offers criminal customers 3-5% commissions to launder their money. A total of HK $ 880 million in digital currency was laundered. The rest of the $ 350 million was laundered using conventional methods.

Cryptocurrency fraud is on the rise after this year’s boom in the crypto market. Last month, the founder of popular African crypto investment app Africrypt went into hiding in a $ 3.6 billion bitcoin scam. Similarly, the UK’s FCA uncovered a multi-million dollar crypto scam last week.

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