Hong Kong police charged four men and six women on Thursday over the HK$1.6 billion JPEX cryptocurrency scandal. The suspects, aged 26 to 47, face money laundering charges and will appear in Eastern Court on Friday. Investigations identified abnormal transactions in suspicious accounts linked to the case.
Four men and six women were charged on Thursday after police investigations identified abnormal transactions in suspicious accounts linked to the HK$1.6 billion JPEX cryptocurrency scandal, police said. The suspects, aged between 26 and 47, will appear in Eastern Court on Friday on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money. Chief Inspector Hon Shing-ho of the commercial crime bureau’s fraud division said the investigation showed that some account holders had abnormal transactions that were “highly disproportionate to their financial profile”, involving around HK$132 million in total. Hon added that the prosecution would apply to transfer the 10 individuals’ cases to the District Court. This latest move comes months after police first charged 16 people, including influencer Joseph Lam Chok, with fraudulently or recklessly inducing others to invest in virtual assets, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. The case involves financial fraud with virtual assets, and police have issued a red notice via Interpol.