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A 61-year-old woman was jailed for ten years for money laundering at the High Court today (March 12).
The court heard that investigations by Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) revealed that the defendant, who was a housewife and registered as a remittance agent in Hong Kong in 2002, had opened a total of nine bank accounts since 2000. Between May 2002 and December 2005, she operated those bank accounts with a turnover of $6.8 billion suspected crime proceeds. She made over 22,000 transfers dealing with an average of $5.18 million daily in order to receive a monthly reward of $4,500.
After investigations, CCB officers arrested the defendant on February 22, 2012. She was then charged with one count of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence. She was convicted yesterday (March 11) and the sentence was handed down today.
Police reiterate that money laundering is a serious offence with a maximum imprisonment sentence of 14 years. Police appeal to members of the public that dealing with money that does not belong to them is a dangerous act and may draw them into committing the money laundering offence. Money Service Operators in particular are reminded of their enhanced due diligence responsibility under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance, Chapter 615 of the Laws of Hong Kong.
Police report no. 320
Ends/Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Issued at HKT 22:07
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