A shell company involved in laundering HK$1.5 billion in virtual currency was busted by Hong Kong Customs

Hong Kong customs have broken up a money laundering group, arresting four people suspected of using multiple shell companies to collect large amounts of overseas cross-border remittances and using virtual currency transactions to launder HKD 1.5 billion in black money. All four individuals are currently on bail while under investigation, and around HKD 2.2 million in assets in their multiple bank accounts have been frozen. Pan Yeqin, the director of the organized crime investigation department of the customs, said that the four arrested individuals included a family of three and a local man, with the Asian father and son being the masterminds of the group. The investigation revealed that between 2020 and 2022, they collected large amounts of funds from unknown sources overseas, some of which were related to overseas criminal activities. The two men established multiple shell companies in Hong Kong and transferred the large sums of money they obtained over the two years to more than 30 accounts in seven banks, with a single largest transfer amount of HKD 23 million. Pan Yeqin said that the group then split the transactions and transferred the funds to 180 third-party accounts using fine silver codes, and hired another 31-year-old local man who was arrested for HKD 300 million in black money through virtual currency transactions for a monthly salary of HKD 70,000.