Hong Kong police have arrested three workers at a currency exchange shop after a customer was allegedly shown stacks of “hell money” before transferring about HK$1 million worth of cryptocurrency.
The force’s technology crime division on Wednesday arrested three men, aged between 31 and 34, on suspicion of obtaining property by deception and confiscated 3,000 hell banknotes, a safe and a note counting machine at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Hell banknotes are a form of ceremonial paper money that is burned as an offering to ancestors or deities in traditional Chinese culture.
Police said they received a report from a 35-year-old man on April 12 who alleged he had been unable to retrieve cash after selling about HK$1 million worth of the digital currency Tether, or USDT, at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui that day.
An investigation found that the suspects allegedly showed the victim stacks of hell banknotes with a face value of HK$500 and persuaded him to transfer about HK$1 million worth of USDT to a cryptocurrency wallet provided by them.
After they took possession of the virtual currency, the suspects made several excuses, declined to hand over cash as agreed and left the scene.
Anyone convicted of fraud in Hong Kong is liable to up to 14 years’ imprisonment.
Those convicted of obtaining property by deception face 10 years behind bars.
Police appealed to the public to choose reputable cryptocurrency exchanges for their transactions and to carefully inspect banknotes for security features.
