Ten individuals involved in the JPEX cryptocurrency scam have been charged with money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, bringing the total number of charged individuals to 26.
Hong Kong’s authorities are still going after other suspects with help from international law enforcement agencies. For now, they continue to cast a wide net as no individual has been pegged as the main operator or mastermind of the JPEX operation yet.
Hong Kong’s biggest crypto scam case
Hong Kong police have charged ten additional individuals in connection with the JPEX cryptocurrency fraud case.
The Commercial Crime Bureau stated that the ten individuals include six men and four women, aged between 26 and 47. They have been charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering and are expected to appear in the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Friday, March 27.
In November last year, 16 people, including social media influencers and alleged core members of the JPEX gang, were charged with offenses such as fraud, conspiracy to defraud, and money laundering.
Chief Inspector Hon Shing-ho of the Commercial Crime Investigation Section said that the criminal gang launched the JPEX investment platform in early 2020 and invested significant funds to promote the platform through various channels. After creating an image of legitimacy, investors were then lured through advertisements of “low-risk, high-return” opportunities.
The scheme was discovered after the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a public warning statement in September 2023, alerting the public to JPEX’s suspicious activities and also clarifying that the platform was unlicensed.
Following the warning, JPEX drastically increased its withdrawal fees, preventing customers from accessing their virtual assets. Investigators found that the operators subsequently transferred client assets and laundered money through a large number of cryptocurrency wallets.
Authorities also discovered that some suspects had bank accounts with unusually high volumes of transactions that were “seriously inconsistent” with their financial profiles, involving amounts totaling HK$132 million. These funds were allegedly used to purchase luxury cars and goods or were withdrawn as cash.
To date, the police have received reports from over 2,700 victims, with total reported losses exceeding HK$1.6 billion. Since the investigation began in September 2023, a total of 80 people have been arrested, including core gang members, over-the-counter (OTC) exchange operators, social media influencers who promoted the platform, and account holders involved in money laundering.
Authorities have frozen approximately HK$228 million in assets, including bank account balances, cash, gold bars, luxury goods, luxury vehicles, and virtual assets.
How will the JPEX investigation proceed?
Chief Inspector Hon noted that since the incident began, no company or individual has come forward to claim responsibility as the true operator of JPEX, and so the police have to conduct extensive investigations to identify the masterminds and core members behind the scheme.
This has involved collecting evidence and statements from victims and witnesses, analyzing vast amounts of company registration and financial transaction records, and conducting forensic examinations of numerous electronic devices.
Interpol has issued Red Notices for three men believed to be key players who have fled Hong Kong. They are identified as Mok Tsun-ting, 27; Cheung Chon-cheng, 30; and Kwok Ho-lun, 28.
The police have confirmed that they will continue to collaborate with international law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspects still at large.
The cases against the 26 charged individuals are progressing through the judicial system. The eight defendants from the first round of charges, including influencers Joseph Lam and Chan Wing-yee (“Chan Yee”), have already appeared in court.
Their case was adjourned until June 1. For the ten newly charged suspects, the prosecution is applying to transfer the case to the District Court for trial.