INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department is partnering with the University of Hong Kong to develop a digital tool to track cryptocurrency
transactions in suspected money laundering schemes.On Thursday, Assistant Commissioner Mario Wong Ho-yin said customs officials would expand
collaboration with academics, regional finance professionals and law enforcement to counteract increasingly complex and borderless financial
delivering his concluding remarks at the closing ceremony
Source: HK GovRelated: Hong Kong to use Chainlink protocol in CBDC pilot projectHK sees rise in crypto-related money laundering casesBetween
2021 and May 2025, Hong Kong customs recorded 39 major money laundering cases, seven of which involved cryptocurrencies
Most were trade-based laundering operations disguising illicit funds as routine transactions.One case involved over 1,000 suspicious
transactions worth 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (around $229 million), spanning five companies and 18 local bank accounts
Three individuals were arrested, with two accused of moving 760 million Hong Kong dollars through a crypto platform.The department and
university also hosted a three-day workshop this week, bringing together law enforcement and consulate staff from eight jurisdictions,
including China, India, Iran, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore, to strengthen cross-border cooperation in combating digital financial
millionIurii Gugnin, founder of crypto payments platform Evita Pay, was recently arrested in New York and indicted on 22 federal charges for
allegedly laundering over $530 million into the US from sanctioned Russian banks.According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Gugnin
used stablecoin transactions to help Russian clients tied to blacklisted institutions, including Sberbank and VTB, access restricted
American technologies.The DOJ claims the scheme ran from June 2023 to January 2025, with Gugnin accused of wire fraud, money laundering and
operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business
If convicted, he faces the possibility of life imprisonment.Magazine: Older investors are risking everything for a crypto-funded retirement
