Customs Smash 'family-run Money Laundering Gang'

Customs officers said on Thursday they had broken up an alleged family-run syndicate they accused of laundering some HK$2.5 billion in just a couple of years.

Officers arrested a couple and their son, as well as a former employee of a currency exchange the woman used to run.

They also arrested two men in their 20s – a cook and a car valet – who allegedly helped the son launder about HK$700 million through their bank accounts.

The mother alone was alleged to have laundered more than HK$1.1 billion.

Investigators said the alleged activities took place between January 2018 and February 2020, involving 59 accounts in nine banks and more than 2,600 transactions.

Grace Tang from customs' syndicate crimes investigation bureau described their probe as complicated and said most of the money had passed through shell companies.

"We are looking into the activities of the shell companies, but right now we don't see any activities, business transactions from the shell companies," she said.

Customs also warned people not to fall prey to advertisements on social media that invite them to let people make use of their bank accounts in exchange for money.