Police crack down on criminal syndicate related to illegal lending

Police arrest 29 people on allegations of illegal lending and fraud. Several of those taken into custody include teenagers, with the youngest being 14 years old, who allegedly collected debts illegally.

The police operation revealed the syndicate had set up three hidden locations in Tsuen Wan.

One of them was an illegal loan sharking call centre, where members would randomly ring victims, induce them to borrow money, and then use their personal information to commit phone fraud against their families.

The criminal syndicate also collaborated with a "family-run" money laundering group that used residential units and adjacent industrial buildings to process criminal proceeds and control dummy accounts.

They recruited teenagers for illegal debt collection activities such as splashing red paint. Many alleged key syndicate members have triad backgrounds.