Published: 7:34pm, 16 Oct 2025Updated: 7:39pm, 16 Oct 2025
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities have arrested three men in a cross-border operation targeting a money laundering syndicate that allegedly used pre-recorded footage to bypass digital bank accounts’ facial recognition software and laundered more than HK$270 million (US$34.7 million).
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Chief Inspector Lo Yin-lam of Hong Kong police’s financial investigation bureau said on Thursday that the syndicate allegedly recruited members from the mainland to travel to the city and open accounts with online-based digital banks.
The operation involving Hong Kong and mainland police took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the city, the joint effort led to the arrest of a 32-year-old local man believed to be a core member of the syndicate. He was found outside a hotel in North Point.
He is suspected of laundering HK$54 million using 16 accounts.
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Police also found five phones in his hotel room, along with multiple selfie videos of other people, which officers believed were being used for “facial spoofing”.
The term refers to a method for deceiving facial recognition software by using images and videos to impersonate someone else.