Money changer and its director as well as one man and two women convicted of operating money service without licence
******************************************************************************************
In the first case, Customs officers in December 2020 conducted an investigation and found that a male director had been operating remittance business at a money changer in Hung Hom after expiry of the money service operator licence. The director and the money changer were suspected of operating a money service without a licence. The male director was fined $10,000 in January this year while the money changer was fined $12,000 today (May 25) after they were convicted at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts.
In the second case, Customs officers in May last year initiated an investigation against a man and his wife who were suspected of operating remittance business without a licence via a social media platform page. After in-depth investigation, Customs officers discovered that the remittance business was operated by using the bank account of the man's mother-in-law. The three persons were sentenced to community service of 80 to 160 hours at Fanling Magistrates' Courts today.
Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, a person who operates a remittance and/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, May 25, 2022
Issued at HKT 18:00
Issued at HKT 18:00
NNNN