Hong Kong no money-laundering hub, officials tell forum on tackling organised crime

Hong Kong’s justice minister and customs chief have dismissed claims the city is becoming a hub for money laundering, while underscoring the importance of international collaboration for combating transnational organised crime.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok revealed on Tuesday that the city had frozen US$20 million worth of cryptocurrencies from alleged fraud proceeds at the request of an East Asian country. It had also recently restrained more than US$8 million of assets for an Indonesian fraud victim with cooperation from foreign jurisdictions.

Lam used the opening of an international forum against money laundering to hit back at “misconceived” comments by unnamed foreign politicians about Hong Kong.

“We are not obliged to, and we do not, implement unilateral sanctions imposed by any other foreign countries that constitute a violation of both international law and the basic norms of international relations,” Lam said.

He added that the city had been enforcing punitive actions from the UN Security Council to fulfil its international obligations.

Lam’s comments came two weeks after American lawmakers urged US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to re-evaluate the country’s treatment of Hong Kong banks and accused the city of becoming a hub for money laundering and helping authoritarian countries evade sanctions.

The lawmakers said Hong Kong had become a “global leader” in practices such as importing and re-exporting banned Western technology to Russia, purchasing barred Iranian oil, facilitating the trade of Russian-sourced gold and managing “ghost ships” that traded illegally with North Korea.