A female owner of a grocery store was fined $12,000 today (September 7) at Eastern Magistrates' Courts after being convicted of operating a money service without a valid licence.
 
     Customs officers in August last year conducted an investigation and discovered that the female owner had been operating a remittance business at a grocery store in Kennedy Town after expiry of the Money Service Operator licence. She was suspected of operating a money service without a licence.
 
     Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, a person who wishes to operate a remittance or money changing service needs to first obtain a licence from the Customs and Excise Department. The maximum penalty for such operators without a valid licence upon conviction is a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for six months.
 
     Customs reminds consumers to procure services from licensed money service operators. A register of licensees is accessible from the website of Customs' Money Service Operators Licensing System at eservices.customs.gov.hk/MSOS/wsrh/001s1?request_locale=en.
 
     Members of the public may report any suspected unlicensed money service operation to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

Ends/Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Issued at HKT 14:15

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