Acting Senior Superintendent Chow Cheung-yau of the police financial intelligence and investigation bureau, said city officers had exchanged information with mainland China’s National Anti-Fraud Centre as part of their investigation.

The operation also brought down an alleged cross-border syndicate believed to have laundered more than HK$230 million in suspected crime proceeds in March, he said.

Chow said those detained included eight mainland men and a Hong Kong woman, all aged between 29 and 48, who are suspected of working for the syndicate.

“They recruited mainlanders to come to Hong Kong via various checkpoints and provided them with accommodation,” he said.

“They were then instructed to go to different banks in the city to set up stooge accounts used to collect scam money and launder the crime proceeds.”

The account holders then withdrew the funds and used the money to buy cryptocurrency at over-the-counter outlets in the city to conceal the flow of illicit cash, Chow said.

“The investigation revealed the syndicate used at least 45 stooge accounts to collect and launder HK$239 million between last October and February this year,” he added.

Chow said the money included HK$25 million linked to 36 scam cases reported in Hong Kong.

He added police had noticed an increase in the use of mainlanders sent to Hong Kong to create bank accounts on behalf of crime syndicates since the city lifted its pandemic travel restrictions at the start of last year.

Chow said police would step up enforcement efforts and work closely with their counterparts on the mainland and overseas to combat cross-border money laundering.

Chief Inspector Tang Kwok-hin of the force’s cybersecurity and technology crime bureau urged the public to use police’s “Scameter” fraud detection app to check for suspicious phone numbers and websites.

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Acting Superintendent Or Wing-yan of the commercial crime bureau said her officers had arrested 22 people on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering in a separate crackdown.

The suspects were six men and 16 women, aged 19 to 59.

Three of the men are Hongkongers and believed to be the leader and core members of a fraud syndicate.

Police said 13 of the suspects worked as domestic helpers. An investigation found the syndicate paid them for the use of their bank accounts to handle suspected crime proceeds.

“We would like to ask employers to remind their domestic helpers not to sell their bank accounts, or hand them over to others for illegal use,” Or said.

Police also promised to step up publicity and education efforts through migrant workers’ groups to discourage involvement in crime.

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Money laundering in Hong Kong is punishable by up to 14 years in jail and a HK$5 million fine.

Police last year recorded 39,824 cases of fraud involving losses of more than HK$9.1 billion in total.

Chow said 27,314 of the cases, about 70 per cent, were online scams that resulted in losses that amounted HK$5.3 billion.

The most common type was online shopping scams, where police logged 8,950 cases.