Hong Kong Customs cracked a virtual currency money laundering case involving a total amount of HK$1.5 billion

Odaily News According to Yahoo News, Hong Kong Customs recently uncovered a case of laundering black money using virtual currency and arrested four men. The suspects were accused of receiving a large amount of overseas cross-border remittances through multiple shell companies and laundering up to HK$1.5 billion in black money through virtual currency transactions. At present, all the arrested persons have been released on bail pending investigation, and assets of about HK$2.2 million in their bank accounts have been frozen. Investigations show that the persons involved received large amounts of funds of unknown origin from overseas between 2020 and 2022, some of which involved overseas criminal activities. The two set up multiple shell companies in Hong Kong and transferred large amounts of money obtained in two years to more than 30 accounts in 7 banks, with the largest single transfer amount reaching HK$23 million. The group split the funds and transferred them to 180 third-party accounts through split transactions, and hired a 31-year-old local man at a monthly salary of HK$70,000 to handle about HK$300 million in black money through virtual currency. Preliminary investigations show that the relevant cross-border funds originated from South Korea.