Police arrest 33 in illegal remittance syndicate bust

The police have arrested 33 individuals involved in an illegal remittance syndicate that operated near casinos, facilitating unauthorized money transfers for gamblers.

Among those detained were 22 locals and 11 mainland Chinese nationals, identified as salesmen and business operators.

In a press conference yesterday, the Judiciary Police (PJ) deputy director Sou Sio Keong disclosed that the syndicate ran eight jewelry stores near casinos to conduct fraudulent transactions.

“They used fake sales accounts and sold goods on a return basis to disguise illegal remittances,” he explained. The syndicate also provided cash in Hong Kong dollars to gamblers and later converted their winnings into Renminbi for transfer to mainland bank accounts.

The group carried out remittances through three methods, one of which involved using PostGate, a local payment platform, to process fake purchases.

“In these transactions, they provided cash to gamblers while making it appear as if a legitimate sale had taken place,” So said. “To cover up their activities, they created fake transaction documents to prevent police detection.”

On Tuesday, city police deployed over 80 detectives in raids across Cotai, targeting jewelry stores, offices, and residential units.

Officers seized over HKD18 million in cash, a small number of casino chips, 48 electronic devices, 12 financial books, and false transaction records.

According to the PJ, the syndicate has been operating since 2019, working with underground money changers to manipulate exchange rate differentials for profit.

“They formed a complete chain of illegal capital flows, evading financial regulations through a sophisticated system,” So said.