Caixin: Tokyo and Hong Kong Witness Massive Cash Robberies in Succession, Two Virtual Currency Exchange Employees Arrested

Odaily News On January 29th and 30th, within less than 24 hours, Tokyo, Japan, and Hong Kong, China, both renowned for their good social order, were hit by consecutive robberies targeting large sums of Japanese yen cash. The amounts involved were as high as 420 million yen (approximately 19 million RMB) and 51 million yen (approximately 2.29 million RMB), respectively. About six hours after the incidents, police arrested three suspects attempting to leave the country at Hong Kong International Airport on charges of "robbery." Simultaneously, two employees of a virtual currency exchange in the Tsim Sha Tsui district were arrested—a 28-year-old local man and a 29-year-old mainland Chinese man—suspected of assisting the robbers in handling part of the stolen funds. Preliminary intelligence analysis suggests that the related Japanese company may have been transporting yen cash to Hong Kong to exchange for Hong Kong dollars, then using the funds to purchase duty-free goods in Hong Kong to profit from the tax differential between the two locations. (Caixin Net)