The Hong Kong Police carried out 458 arrests in 314 money-laundering cases with a total value of nearly $60 million, a quarter of which related to digital assets. Local media report местные СМИ.
According to authorities, the investigation into the activities of the criminal group had been underway for several months. They are believed to be involved in various financial crimes, including telephone scams, online gambling, betting, and cryptocurrency investment scams.
Law enforcement identified several instances where criminals lured victims into giving access to bank accounts, which were subsequently used to launder illicit proceeds.
The investigation established that from October 2022 to June 2023 the criminal syndicate laundered more than $15 million by converting fiat into cryptocurrency.
In total, 330 men and 128 women aged between 15 and 82 were arrested during the raid.
Some of those detained themselves fell victim to online dating or overseas job scams. They were allegedly forced to engage in criminal activity, with promises of the return of stolen funds.
Earlier, Singapore police reported the arrest of 10 people on suspicion of laundering around $700 million, including through digital assets.
Earlier in Belarus, police officers identified cases of exchanging funds stolen from citizens into cryptocurrencies totaling over 2 million Belarusian rubles (~$800,000). According to investigators, two men over two years received and laundered funds obtained from foreign criminals.