Hong Kong Arrests Users for Laundering $15M Through Crypto

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Hong Kong police have reportedly made 458 arrests in 314 money laundering cases involving approximately $60 million, of which a quarter is related to digital assets.

Over the course of several months, the police have investigated the activities of a criminal group believed to have committed financial crimes including phone scams, online gambling, betting, and cryptocurrency investment scams.

By accessing bank accounts, the suspects were able to launder over $15 million by converting it to cryptocurrency between October 2022 and June 2023.

The 330 men and 128 women, aged between 15 and 82, arrested in the raid may have been unwitting victims of online dating or job search scams who were tricked into participating in criminal activities in return for the return of stolen funds.

Elsewhere, Singaporean police announced the arrest of 10 people, on suspicion of laundering approximately $700 million through digital assets.

In Belarus, two men were identified as having exchanged stolen funds for cryptocurrencies totaling over 2 million Belarusian rubles (~$800,000). The active money laundering took place over the span of two years.