Man involved in fraudulent online money changer page convicted of money laundering
A man was sentenced to respective nine-month and 54-month imprisonment terms today (April 24) at the District Court after two earlier convictions for providing his personal bank account details and log-in credentials to unknown individuals in exchange for a monetary reward, laundering a total of about $10 million, in contravention of "dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence" (commonly known as money laundering) under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (OSCO). The sentences will be run concurrently.
In December 2021, Customs officers investigated an unlicensed money service operation case and discovered that someone had set up a fake page on a social media platform, posing as a licenced money changer to provide remittance services. The fraudsters lured customers with attractive exchange rates. A victim was deceived into transferring money to a designated bank account, after which the scammer disappeared and ceased all contact. Customs traced the recipient bank account and found frequent suspicious transactions and large sums of money with unknown sources between April and June 2021, including the funds scammed from the victim. The total amount involved in the case was about $10 million.
Following an detailed investigation, Customs identified a local man who, in exchange for a monetary reward, had provided two personal bank account details and log-in credentials to unknown individuals (commonly known as selling accounts). The accounts sold were used to process large volumes of suspicious funds. Customs arrested the man in August 2022 under the OSCO and formally charged him with two counts of money laundering in November of the same year.
Customs welcomes the sentence. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of money laundering offences. Customs emphasises that using personal bank accounts or e-wallets to handle funds from unknown sources, regardless of whether any reward is involved, may constitute the offence of money laundering. Members of the public are urged not to sell or lend their personal bank accounts or e-wallets out of momentary greed.
Under the OSCO, a person commits an offence if he or she deals with any property knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that such property, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly represents any person's proceeds of an indictable offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and imprisonment for 14 years while the crime proceeds are also subject to confiscation.
Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, a person who wishes to operate a remittance or money changing service needs to first obtain a licence from the Customs and Excise Department. The maximum penalty for such operators without a valid licence upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.
Customs reminds consumers to procure services from licensed money service operators. A register of licensees is accessible from the website of Customs' Money Service Operators Licensing System at eservices.customs.gov.hk/MSOS/wsrh/001s1?request_locale=en.
Members of the public may report any suspected unlicensed money service operation or money laundering activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).
