Seven people, including five insurance agents, have been arrested by the Judiciary Police (PJ) on suspicion of major fraud that allegedly caused the loss of some HKD25 million from at least 28 victims, the PJ announced.
According to the PJ, the crime ring used images of several celebrities to publish fake advertisements on social media to attract clients to join the alleged scheme.
Victims were invited to invest in an insurance-based investment scheme.
The case was first unveiled after five of the victims realized they had been blocked from accessing their investment assets through a mobile application. They filed complaints with the PJ. Upon investigation, the PJ detected another 23 potential victims of the same scheme.
All victims were lured by the insurance agents and directed to purchase insurance. In the process and in making use of the documents, the group opened several bank accounts in Macau into which the alleged investment money was being transferred.
The members were then added to an online group that continuously shared investment tips about the best plans or stocks to invest in.
As often happens in this kind of case, after some success investing a small amount, the victims were invited to increase their investments.
The group then transferred the money paid by the victims into 13 bank accounts in Macau and later transferred the earnings to 10 bank accounts on the mainland.
The suspects under PJ custody told the police that they were hired by the crime ring and were earning sums between HKD2,000 and 70,000.
Among the seven arrested, six are Macau residents (including the five insurance agents) and one is a resident from the mainland.
The PJ also disclosed that of the 28 victims located so far, 27 are local residents and one is a mainland resident.
