Two Hong Kong women convicted of money laundering have been jailed for more than three years for transporting more than $280 million in cash from China to Hong Kong between 2018 and 2019.
Luo Xiaoping was sentenced to four years and ten months in the District Court, while Xiang Yurong was jailed for three years, according to local media. reported.
Both were convicted after a trial in which they pleaded not guilty to a total of four counts of money laundering.
Luo was accused of bringing money through border checkpoints, with more than 100 occasions during which she carried more than HK$1 million per trip, the court heard. She was accused of smuggling around HK$270 million.
Xiang brought money into Hong Kong an average of 10 times a month during the infringement period, keeping around 200,000 to 300,000 RMB each time. She transported money to Hong Kong up to three times in a single day.
In total, the two of them handled HK$280 million in illegal money, the court said.
Deputy District Court Judge Lily Wong said she accepted the fact that Xiang and Luo were just “mules”, but their breach inevitably brought a negative impact on the financial systems of Hong Kong and mainland China.
Both were arrested in September 2019, but were arrested alone loaded in April 2023.
The defense argued that there was a delay in the prosecution. They said customs officers could have stopped Luo much earlier, but they only took action after she had successfully transported money to Hong Kong many times.
However, Judge Wong disagreed with this argument, describing Luo as “acting with the mindset of a gambler” and committing the crimes out of pure greed, Ming Pao reported.
Under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, “relating to property known or believed to represent the proceeds of the indicted offence”, or “money laundering”, is punishable by a maximum sentence of up to 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$5 million.
Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department said in a statement on Thursday that this is the first money-laundering conviction involving travelers carrying large amounts of cash-related items across the border since the Ordinance on the Cross-Border Movement of Physical Currency and Negotiable Bearer Instruments came into effect in July 2018.
According to the ordinance, anyone carrying over HK$120,000 in cash in Hong Kong must declare the amount to customs officers.
