Police crack down on illegal deposit-taking

The city’s Judiciary Police and Monetary Authority joined hands to crack down on an unauthorised local unit that absorbed savings from at least 15 individuals with the lure of high deposit interest rates, a crime that could result in a two-year imprisonment.
Calling the case a “rare” one in recent years, the deputy director of the banking supervision department at the Monetary Authority, Wilson L. F. Vong, told media in a press briefing yesterday that the investigation into the unit started in mid-December, following enquiries filed by local residents about the unit’s operation.
The unauthorised unit, which has been operating since late December, offered up to 12 per cent annual deposit interest rate to lure savings from residents here.
The unit also required clients to deposit at least MOP10,000 (US$1,251) upon becoming a member. Any member that could introduce new clients to place deposits with the unit could earn 0.1 per cent of the initial deposit amount, Judiciary Police said.
“We have uncovered HK$150,000 [of deposits] from the unit’s office, and another MOP10,300”, Judiciary Police spokesman Suen Kam Fai noted yesterday. “We have arrested two mainland Chinese that managed the unit, and the case has already been forwarded to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for further investigation”.
The penalty for the illegal taking of savings can result in a two-year imprisonment, Mr. Vong said.
So far the police have identified 15 victims in the case who deposited savings in the unit, most of whom are staff working in the company and their relatives. Following the Authority’s crackdown on Wednesday, the unauthorised unit, situated in the industrial building Airway Block in Areia Preta, was sealed off.
Mr. Chan Cho Man, acting head of the Economic Crimes Division of the Judiciary Police, noted that the police did not rule out that that scam elements were involved in the absorbed deposits at the unauthorised  unit.
“As we understand so far, the maximum amount of deposits placed [by an individual victim] was only MOP20,000”, Mr. Chan said, noting that the Authority is still investigating the unit’s intended use of the deposits  placed.
The police also noted that they were not aware of any prior office registry of the unauthorised unit.
At least one suspect operating the unauthorised unit, who is also a mainland Chinese, is still on the run, Mr. Chan added.