Officers allege that two of those arrested are locals and key members of a cross-border syndicate while the 10 others are from the mainland.
The suspects are aged between 20 and 41.
The force said the syndicate had recruited mainlanders since July to set up some 500 stooge accounts in Hong Kong to enable the laundering of proceeds from scams.
A chief inspector from the police’s commercial crime bureau, Lo Yuen-shan, said the syndicate rented an apartment in Mong Kok where the mainlanders would wait for instructions.
“When crime proceeds were deposited, the suspects used the stooge accounts to launder the money,” she said.
“They then went to cryptocurrency exchange booths to convert the money into cryptocurrencies.
“This was allegedly to cover up the source of the proceeds from crimes.”
Lo said some of the suspects even used other people’s cards to get cash.
The force said investigators found that around HK$10 million involved in the case came from more than 50 reported scam cases in which victims reported losses amounting to more than HK$40 million.
Officers have seized some 500 bank cards, more than HK$1 million in cash and mobile phones, as well as bank documents and cryptocurrency transaction records.
