Experts have hailed Hong Kong’s first money-laundering conviction stemming from a wildlife trafficking case, saying it sets a positive direction for tackling the illegal trade in endangered animals.
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A Hong Kong man, 37, was sentenced to 40 months in jail at the District Court on Thursday in a case involving about HK$6.7 million (US$859,000) from the proceeds of crime.
Customs had conducted a follow-up financial investigation based on a smuggling case in 2022 involving a batch of food and endangered live corals, with an estimated total market value of about HK$1.5 million.
The investigation revealed that the 37-year-old had used his personal bank accounts to conduct numerous suspicious transactions with more than 700 counterparties between April 2021 and September 2023.
The man was convicted of money laundering under the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance. The Customs and Excise Department successfully applied in court for an enhanced sentence of 40 months behind bars.
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Sam Inglis, a wildlife programme manager at environmental group ADM Capital Foundation, said the sentence was commensurate with the scale of the crime.
He said that the highest sentence he had seen for wildlife trafficking without the money laundering offence factored in was 39 months’ jail for smuggling 440kg of pangolin scales.