The Hong Kong Department of Customs and Consumption Tax works with the University of Hong Kong to develop a digital tool to pursue cryptocurrency transactions in alleged money laundering options.
On Thursday, deputy commissioner Mario Wong Ho-Yin said that customs officers would expand the cooperation with academics, regional financial specialists and law enforcement authorities so as to counteract more complex and cross-border financial crimes.
“These money laundering threats are characterised by a transnational and unlimited manner, and never a single agency can tackle this problem alone,” said Wong during a media information, in response to a South China Morning Post report.
According to the report, the official refused to analyze further details concerning the operation of the tool, citing the confidential character of the department of the department.
Wong Ho-Yin delivers his final remarks on the closing ceremony. Source: HK GOV
HK sees crypto -related money washes rise
Between 2021 and May 2025, Hong Kong Customs recorded 39 cases of cash laundering, of which seven cryptocurrencies were concerned. Most were commercially-related clothes options that disguised illegal means as routine transactions.
One case comprised over 1,000 suspicious transactions price 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (around 229 million US dollars) and over five corporations and 18 local bank accounts. Three people were arrested, two were accused of moving 760 million Hong Kong dollar over a crypto platform.
This week, the department and the university also organized a three-day workshop through which law enforcement and consulate staff were brought together from eight jurisdiction, including China, India, Iran, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore, to strengthen cross-border cooperation in combating digital financial crimes.
Crypto Exec, which is charged due to washing 530 million US dollars
Iurii Gugnin, founding father of the Crypto Payments Platform Evita Pay, was recently arrested in New York and was purported to wash over 530 million US dollars from sanctioned Russian banks due to the supposedly over 530 million dollar.
According to the US Ministry of Justice (DOJ), Gugnin stablecoin transactions used to assist Russian customers are accessible to the institutions related to black list, including Sberbank and VTB.
The DOJ claims that the system was running from June 2023 to January 2025, with Gugnin being charged with wire fraud, money laundering and operator of a non -licensed money transfer business. If he’s convicted, he looks like the potential for lifelong detention.
