â€‹Hong Kong Customs yesterday (February 28) successfully detected a suspected money laundering case involving about $16 million in crime proceeds, subsequent to a follow-up investigation of a dangerous drugs case identified last year. A 36-year-old man suspected to be connected with the case was arrested.

     In August last year, Customs detected a seaborne drug-trafficking case involving about $200 million worth of drugs and arrested the local man suspected to be connected with the case. A subsequent financial investigation and fund-flow analysis revealed that there were numerous suspicious transactions amounting to $16 million in the personal bank accounts of the man between February 2022 and June 2023. The funds were suspected to be crime proceeds.

     Upon further investigation, Customs yesterday took enforcement action and arrested the man for "dealing with property known or reasonably believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence" (commonly known as money laundering) under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (OSCO), and searched his residential premises in Chai Wan and two of his companies in Mong Kok and To Kwa Wan. Two mobile phones and a batch of bank documents were seized in the operation. 

     The man has been released on bail pending investigation. An investigation is ongoing and the likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.

     Under the OSCO, a person commits an offence if he or she deals with any property knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that such property, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, represents any person's proceeds of an indictable offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and imprisonment for 14 years, while the crime proceeds are also subject to confiscation.

     Members of the public may report any suspected money laundering activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

     Police today (February 29) appealed to the public for information on a woman who went missing in Kwai Chung.

     Lau Tsui-lin, aged 71, went missing after she left her residence in Kwai Fong Estate yesterday (February 28) morning. Her family made a report to Police on the same day.
   
     She is about 1.6 metres tall, 65 kilograms in weight and of fat build. She has a round face with yellow complexion and short black hair. She was last seen wearing a long-sleeved patchwork jacket, blue trousers and beige shoes.

     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing woman or may have seen her is urged to contact the Regional Missing Persons Unit of New Territories South on 3661 1174 or 9415 4459 or email to rmpu-nts-2@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.

  

     Following the trial of the interactive voice response system service (IVRS) at the report room hotline of Tsim Sha Tsui Division Police Station in October last year, Police will extend the trial to four other report rooms starting from 10am tomorrow (March 1), aiming to cater to various reporting needs of the public.
 
     The hotlines of the five police station report rooms offering trial interactive voice response system services are as follows:
 

1. Tsim Sha Tsui Division Police Station (3661 1650)
2. Wan Chai Division Police Station (3661 1612)
3. Tseung Kwan O District Police Station (3661 1624)
4. Castle Peak Division Police Station (3661 1668)
5. Kwai Chung Division Police Station (3661 1690)

 
     A Police spokesman said that in general, the calls for assistance from the public may concern different government departments or units of Police. In IVRS, the public can obtain more detailed reporting information through the key-in mode of input based on the category of the cases so as to select the reporting channel in need or connection to the Report Room.
 
     The spokesman reiterated that report room hotlines are designed for reports of non-emergency nature. In case of emergency, the public should call 999 or 992 (Emergency SMS Hotline for registered speech or hearing impaired users only).
 
     The public may also report online via the e-Report Centre on the police website or Hong Kong Police Mobile App, or contact Police via fax, email or post. For details, please visit police website at https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/index.html.
 

The following is issued on behalf of the Law Reform Commission:

     The Law Reform Commission (LRC) today (February 29) announced that Mrs Janice Choi Kwan Wing-kum has been reappointed by the Chief Executive as a member of the LRC for a second three-year term with effect from March 1, 2024.

     Mrs Choi is the Advisor and Legal Director of Sunwah Group and a current Standing Committee Member of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong. The LRC expresses its appreciation to Mrs Choi for her valuable contributions to the LRC's work over the past three years, and believes that her legal background and extensive experience in the commercial sector will continue to sustain the LRC's broad expertise in delivering effective law reform.

     With this latest appointment, the LRC comprises the following members:

Secretary for Justice (Chairman)
Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal (ex officio member)
Law Draftsman (ex officio member)
Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon
Ms Winnie Tam Wan-chi, SC
Ms May Chan Suk-mei
Professor Lutz-Christian Wolff
Mr Stephen Hung Wan-shun
Mrs Janice Choi Kwan Wing-kum
Mr Chan Chak-ming
Mrs Margaret Leung Ko May-yee
Professor Alexander Loke
Mr Michael Jackson

     The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) invites applications for the assignment of spectrum in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands (26/28 GHz bands) for the provision of large scale fifth generation (5G) mobile services from today (February 29).

     Subsequent to a public consultation exercise, the Communications Authority (CA) decided on December 13, 2018, to allocate 4 100 MHz of spectrum in the 26/28 GHz bands to mobile service, among which 3 700 MHz will be non-shared spectrum for providing large scale public 5G services, while 400 MHz will be shared spectrum for providing localised wireless services. The CA also decided to adopt an administrative approach for spectrum assignment in view of the abundant supply of spectrum in the two bands. The first batch of 1 200 MHz non-shared spectrum was first assigned to mobile network operators in April 2019 for 5G service provision. To further promote 5G development and having regard to the latest market situation, the CA decided to make available the remaining 2 500 MHz of non-shared spectrum in the bands for application by the industry.

     Detailed arrangements of the application and spectrum assignment are set out in the Guidelines for Submission of Applications for Second Round Assignment of Spectrum in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz Bands for Provision of Large Scale Public Mobile Services. Interested parties are required to submit a duly completed application form with required information to OFCA by 5.30pm on March 28, 2024. Late submissions will not be accepted. The aforementioned guidelines and application form can be downloaded from the OFCA website.