Hong Kong to develop crypto tracking tool to tackle money laundering
Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department has partnered with the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to create a new digital tool aimed at curbing crypto-related money laundering schemes. The customs authority has stressed that it has recorded seven suspected money laundering cases which involved virtual assets over HK$9 billion in recent years.
Speaking at a press briefing on 12 June, Assistant Commissioner Mario Wong Ho-yin highlighted the urgent need for inter-agency coordination. “These money laundering threats are characterised by a transnational and borderless nature, and no single agency can tackle this problem alone,” he said, as quoted by the South China Morning Post. Wong declined to disclose further details about the tool, citing the sensitive nature of law enforcement operations.
System to monitor suspicious crypto movements
The Hong Kong customs department said it would ramp up collaborations with academics, finance and virtual asset industry players, and law enforcement across the region. The collaboration aims to build a sophisticated tracking system to monitor suspicious cryptocurrency movements tied to money laundering. The digital tool is in development stages, and it’s part of a broader initiative to modernise anti-money laundering (AML) capabilities in the region.
Recorded money laundering cases
Since 2021, the city has recorded 39 major money laundering cases. Of these, seven involved cryptocurrency transactions. Most cases were trade-based laundering operations where criminal organisations disguised illicit cash as routine business transactions and used crypto to obscure the audit trail. One particularly massive case included over 1,000 suspicious transactions totaling HK$1.8 billion (US$229 million). These funds were moved across five companies and 18 local bank accounts. This case led to the arrest of three, with two accused of moving HK$760 million through a crypto platform.
Another case that made headlines involved Iurii Gugnin, founder of crypto payments platform Evita Pay. Gugnin was recently arrested in New York for allegedly laundering over $530 million in the US from sanctioned Russian banks through his crypto payments’ platform. According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), using stablecoin transactions, Gugnin reportedly helped Russian clients linked to sanctioned banks—including Sberbank and VTB—gain access to US tech and financial networks.
In conjunction with HKU, the Customs Department also organised a three-day workshop focused on digital financial crime. It brought together law enforcement officials and consulate staff from eight jurisdictions. These included China, India, Iran, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore.
