A female shopkeeper of a grocery store was fined $16,000 today (August 17) at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts after being convicted of operating a money service without a valid licence.
After investigation, Customs officers in July last year discovered the female shopkeeper had been operating a remittance business at a grocery store in Kowloon City after the renewal application for a Money Service Operator licence was rejected. Therefore, she was suspected of operating a money service without a licence.
Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, a person who wishes to operate a remittance or money changing service needs to first obtain a licence from the Customs and Excise Department. The maximum penalty for such operators without a valid licence upon conviction is a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for six months.
Customs reminds consumers to procure services from licensed money service operators. A register of licensees is accessible from the website of Customs' Money Service Operators Licensing System at eservices.customs.gov.hk/MSOS/wsrh/001s1?request_locale=en.
Members of the public may report any suspected unlicensed money service operation to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, August 17, 2022