Two men have been arrested on suspicion of stealing the deed to a Hong Kong flat from an elderly woman and using it as collateral for a HK$6 million (US$771,300) loan.

Police detained the pair, a 26-year-old and a 59-year-old, on suspicion of forging an identity document, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Sung Ka-wai, acting chief inspector at the police’s financial crimes investigation division, said the 81-year-old victim, who lives in Tai Kok Tsui, had become friends with the older suspect after being introduced by a friend.

During a visit to her house, the woman had told the man where she kept important documents, he said.

“The victim only realised the documents were missing after police got in touch with her,” Sung said.

Police believe the two men were part of a gang, but the incident in question was a one-off and not part of a wider scam.

Police were alerted to the crime when one of the men deposited a cheque for HK$5.9 million into his bank account.

The 26-year-old, together with a woman pretending to be the victim, used the deed to secure a loan from a financial company on Monday, October 25. Police became aware of a possible crime when the man deposited a large cheque into his bank account three days later.

“A cheque worth HK$5.9 million was suddenly deposited to his account on October 28 this year, and the man had called the bank to have the full amount withdrawn in cash the next day,” Sung said.

As the amount did not match the man’s income records, police suspected the money had been made illegally. Officers arrested the 26-year-old on Friday after staking out the bank.

The full amount of cash, along with a fake identification document with the victim’s name, was found in his backpack.

According to the latest data posted on the website of the city’s Joint Financial Intelligence Unit, which is staffed by police and customs officers, reports of suspicious financial transactions, including those with suspected links to conventional money laundering or terrorist financing, rose by 10.7 per cent to 57,130 last year from 51,588 in 2019.