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| Lending one's HKID is enough to get one arrested for money laundering |
The Philippine Migrant
Workers Office has warned Filipino domestic workers against lending their Hong
Kong ID cards to avoid falling into the money laundering trap.
The warning
posted by the MWO on its Facebook page Friday night came a day after HK Police
announced the arrest of 14 domestic helpers, 13 of them Filipinos and one
Indonesian; as well as two local men on suspicion of conspiring to commit money
laundering.
The suspects,
who are aged between 21 and 54, were arrested as part of the police money
laundering operation codenamed “Halobolt” which was carried out on Nov. 27.
Police said the
group had offered between $200 and $500 to FDWs
to lend or “rent” out their bank accounts for the purpose of money
laundering.
Members of the criminal group would then enter the account holders’
names and create their own passwords to gain direct control to the account.
Then, fraud victims are told to deposit money into the dummy accounts, which are
then promptly emptied through multiple bank transfers.
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| Employers are urged to warn their FDWs against the money laundering trap |
The Police called on all employers to remind their helpers that money
laundering is a serious offence and that anyone who provides personal
information to anyone to open a bank account for money laundering purposes in
their name, may be breaking the law.
Under Hong Kong laws, money laundering is punishable by up to 14 years
in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million.
As a result of the mounting cases related to money laundering, Hong Kong
courts have imposed tougher penalties on those who allow their bank accounts to
be used for the illicit act.
The highest sentence imposed so far on a Filipina DH whose bank account
was used to transfer more than $1.2 million from a romance scam victim was 15
months’ imprisonment after trial.
Another Filipina DH who was tried separately in June this year was jailed for 12 months after $281,000 was found
to have passed through a bank account she just opened.
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