Hong Kong Customs today (April 16) successfully made its application to the District Court for a confiscation order granted under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (OSCO) to confiscate crime proceeds of about $14 million from a local car dealer convicted of money laundering, including real properties, vehicles and other realisable properties.
Hong Kong Customs collaborated with Mainland Customs in 2013 to combat a vehicle smuggling syndicate and identified a local car dealer who had taken part in smuggling vehicles into the Mainland from Hong Kong via Vietnam and had laundered about RMB 48 million in crime proceeds between 2012 and 2013. Following in-depth joint investigation with Mainland Customs, Hong Kong Customs arrested the car dealer in September 2013. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at the District Court in April 2018 following his conviction for contravention of the OSCO.
According to the confiscation order granted today, an additional six years' imprisonment will be imposed if the car dealer fails to comply with the order.
Customs welcomes the order granted by the court and emphasises that money laundering is a serious crime.
Under the OSCO, a person commits an offence if he deals with any property knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that such property in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents any person's proceeds of an indictable offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and imprisonment for 14 years, and the crime proceeds are subject to confiscation.
Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the OSCO to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Tuesday, April 16, 2019