Cryptocurrence $15 million in cryptocurrency money laundering ring amid Hong Kong’s latest financial sting
Hong Kong police broke up with a profitable ring, which ran 15 million through more than 550 accounts and cryptocurrency. Twelve suspects aged 20 to 40 were arrested during operations in mainland China and Hong Kong. They are now facing allegations of conspiracy to launder money, the report said.
Recruiting shell account holders
According to investigators, the group hired people from the mainland to open shell bank accounts. These recruits received funds from various fraudulent schemes.
They withdrew cash using different ATM cards and then sent the money to a virtual asset exchange. From there, it is converted to a digital token and mixed into other transactions.
Source: IC3
Planes are used as foundation in Mong Kok
According to a report by Chief Inspector Lo Yuen-Shan, the group’s operations have been conducted from Mong Kok’s apartment since mid-2024. Mainland recruits were placed there.
They process illegal funds through these shell accounts every day. During a raid on the apartment, officials found 600,000 port cash and dozens of bank documents.
Hong Kong police bust $15 million cash and crypto money laundering ring
Hong Kong authorities dismantled a $15 million money laundering group, arrested 12 suspects and seized hundreds of ATM cards. The team uses mainland recruits to open Shell accounts related to illegal funds.
Nearly half… pic.twitter.com/mceldjfe3c– Crypto Townhall (@crypto_townhall) May 18, 2025
Trailing causes major epilepsy seizures
Principal Shirley Kwok Ching -Yee said police officers dragged two key figures from the apartment. One goes to the bank and the other uses an ATM. Then, both of them went to a cryptocurrency exchange at TSIM SHA TSUI. Officials moved in and seized about 770,000 port cash.
In all the raids, they recovered about 1.05 million ports, with the other currencies of about 134,000, as well as 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 ports of money laundering funds were tied to 58 separate fraud cases. In 2024, fraud-related crimes in Hong Kong increased by more than 12%, with more than 10,000 arrests.
Shell account holders account for more than 70% of these arrests. Now, fraud accounts for nearly half of the city’s 95,000 criminal cases last year.
Call for tougher penalties
TSE KA -LUN, a senior inspector for the Commercial Crime Bureau, said friends and family often lend their bank accounts to criminals. He urged the judge to put down harder sentences.
The current law can be imprisoned for up to 14 years and fined up to 5 million ports. But over 100 convicted money launderers have had extra time over the past two years – adding between three and 18 months.
Featured images from Pexels, charts for TradingView
Editing process For Bitcoin experts, focus on thorough research, accurate and impartial content. We adhere to strict procurement standards and each page is diligently evaluated by our top technical experts and experienced editorial team. This process ensures the integrity, relevance and value of our content to our readers.
