Hong Kong police broke up a ring that brought 15 million over 550 accounts and crypto trades. Twelve suspects, aged 20 to 40, were arrested in operations through mainland China and Hong Kong. They are now accused of conspiracy to commit money laundering, Hong Kong Commercial Daily reported on May 17.
Recruitment of shell account holders
According to investigators, the group hired people on the continent to open Shell’s bank accounts. These recruits have received funds from various fraud regimes.
They withdrew money with different ATM cards, then sent money to exchanges from virtual farmers. From there, it was converted into digital tokens and mixed with other transactions.
Source: IC3
Mong kok dish used as a base
Based on the reports of the Chief Inspector Lo Yuen-Shan, the union has released its operations from an apartment in Mong Kok since mid-201. The continent’s recruits were hosted there.
They have treated illicit funds every day via these shell accounts. In a raid on this apartment, the officers found 600,000 HKD in cash and dozens of banking documents.
Hong Kong Police Low $ 15 million in cash and crypto whitening ring
Hong Kong authorities have dismantled a laundering union of $ 15 million, arresting 12 suspects and seizing hundreds of ATM cards. The group used continent recruits to open accounts of illicit funds.
Almost half … pic.twitter.com/mceldjfe3c– Crypto Town Hall (@crypto_townhall) May 18, 2025
The tail leads to a great crisis
Superintendent Shirley Kwok Ching – Yee said the police had reduced two key characters in the apartment. One went to a bank and the other used an automatic counter. The two then went to an crypto exchange shop in Tsim Sha Tsui. The agents moved in and seized around 770,000 HKD in cash.
In all raids, they recovered approximately 1.05 million HKDs, around 134,000 in other currencies, more than 560 ATM cards and several phones.
Total crypto market cap at $3.25 trillion on the daily chart: TradingView.com
Scope of fraud cases
LO added that more than 10 million HKDs of bleached money linked to 58 cases of distinct fraud. Crimes related to fraud in Hong Kong increased by more than 12% in 2024, with more than 10,000 people arrested.
Shell account holders represented more than 70% of these arrests. Fraud now represents almost half of the city’s 95,000 criminal cases last year.
Calls for more severe penalties
The main Inspector TSE Ka-Lun of the Office of Commercial Crime said that friends and family often lend their bank accounts to criminals. He urges judges to transmit more rigid sentences.
The current law authorizes up to 14 years in prison and a fine of up to 5 million HKD. But in the past two years, more than 100 condemned launders have taken overtime – between three and 18 months.
PEXELS star image, tradingView graphic
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