Three arrested over alleged HK$8m London Gold scam
Police on Friday said they had arrested three people in connection with a suspected London Gold scam where victims lost HK$8 million between them. The two men and one woman, aged between 35 and 49, are suspected of persuading newly hired clerks, or friends of the clerks, to set up gold trading accounts. The alleged scammers took control of the accounts and conducted frequent transactions, before telling the alleged victims to put in more money to recover "losses" from earlier investments, police said. Officers said they arrested the trio at a Tsim Sha Tsui office on Wednesday after receiving complaints. The force said it believes there are at least 10 victims, aged between 27 and 70, with one of them allegedly swindled out of HK$2.9 million. Inspector Ng Hay-yu said they are working to find out if more people have fallen prey to the suspected scam. "We believe there are actually more victims in the [alleged] scam because we managed to find lots of employment records, up to 70 sets of employment records, and we believe there might be some victims," she said. The force called on people to be wary of investment opportunities described as risk-free but offering unrealistically high returns.