A 22-year-old mainland youth has been convicted in Hong Kong’s biggest money launderingcase ever and sentenced to 10 years and six months in jail.
Luo Juncheng was found guilty of the illegal transfer of HK$13.1 billion in funds. High CourtJudge E Toh noted a growing trend in the number of money laundering cases and in theamount of money involved.
The maximum penalty for money laundering is 14 years imprisonment. Tou suggested theauthorities re-examine the question to evaluate whether the penalty should be increased.
Toh also said, though the defendant was goaded by others on the mainland into his criminalenterprise, Luo was in charge of the situation and it was he who opened the accounts in HongKong through which the funds were transferred. The judge noted HK$1 million was transferredfrom Macao to Hong Kong, elevating the case to an overseas level.
Luo came to Hong Kong between August, 2009, and April, 2010, on two way permits. Hebought a local company through a secretarial company, then opened accounts at the ChiyuBank in the name of his company and in his own name.
From September, 2009, to April, 2010, the company account showed 4,800 deposit recordsand 3,500 transfer records, in amounts exceeding HK$13.1 billion. The money transfers rangedfrom hundreds of thousands of dollars to HK$2.60 million.
The amount of money the defendant laundered each day amounted to up to HK$50 million onaverage over an eight month span. On one occasion Luo made four transfers from thecompany account into his personal account to engage in share trading.
Detailed news link: click here
Alternate link for news: click here