71 people arrested for money laundering and fraud, with a multinational second-hand car dealership defrauded of HKD 134 million

The police earlier launched a 15-day operation codenamed "Cloud Piercing" to combat fraud and money laundering activities. During this period, 71 people aged between 14 and 65 were arrested on charges of "money laundering." The suspects included students, housewives, construction workers, and security guards, all of whom were puppet account holders suspected of having lent or sold their bank accounts to fraud groups in exchange for compensation. The operation involved 69 fraud cases, with a total of 182 victims. The highest reported loss involved a multinational company engaged in the second-hand car trading business, which was defrauded of HKD 134 million.

The aforementioned defrauded multinational company had its victim as the executive director of its Spanish branch. The fraudsters first hacked into the communication software of the company's CEO at the UK headquarters and then sent a message to the victim, claiming that the company was conducting a large secret acquisition and requesting the victim to transfer EUR 15 million to a designated account in Hong Kong.

At the time, the victim did not suspect any fraud as the fraudsters had hacked the CEO's communication software account and followed the transfer instructions as requested. It was only later, when the victim communicated with the real CEO, that they realized the CEO's account had been hijacked and discovered they had been scammed, subsequently seeking police assistance.

Among the 69 fraud cases involved in the operation, the 182 victims included some high-income and highly educated individuals, including lawyers and dentists. The losses ranged from HKD 220 to HKD 134 million, with a total loss exceeding HKD 214 million