Commercial Crime

The Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) had another busy year, with a
mixture of traditional types of fraud and more modern scams. Hong Kong
remained a popular location for West African crime syndicates to conduct
Advance Fee Frauds against both local and overseas investors. Major
convictions received widespread publicity. Long Firm Fraud cases
continued to be reported but in fewer numbers than in the past. Some
syndicates which had been active for several years were successfully
neutralised, with their members being convicted and imprisoned.

The year also saw two long-term investigations undertaken by a CCB
Task Force come to fruition. Enquiries into the activities of two
publicly-listed companies, which had taken several years to complete, led
to charges being laid against eight people in Hong Kong and extradition
proceedings being initiated against a suspect in Australia.

The Counterfeit and Forgery Division had another successful year in
combating counterfeit credit card activity, the counterfeiting of currency
and the use of forged travel documents by illegal immigrants. The
fraudulent use of credit cards dropped to its lowest level in five years.

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