Police said on Wednesday that 16 people, including social media influencers, have been charged in connection with scams over the crypto-currency trading platform, JPEX.

Six of the defendants are alleged to be core members of the platform, with officers deploying anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws enacted in early 2023 as part of the prosecutions.

Those convicted of fraudulently or recklessly inducing others to invest in virtual assets could face prison terms of up to seven years and fines of HK$1 million.

Another seven defendants, whom the force alleged had to do with over-the-counter crypto exchanges, are accused of fraud and money laundering.

The rest of the defendants, meanwhile, had allegedly offered their bank accounts for use to launder the funds.

They are all due to appear in an Eastern Magistrates' court on Thursday morning.

Officers said some HK$1.6 billion were scammed out of more than 2,500 victims.

Ernest Wong, chief superintendent of the force's Commercial Crime Bureau, said officers went over a huge amount of data and transaction records to get the charges filed after consultation with the Department of Justice.

"At the moment we're finishing the first round of examination of our evidence," he said.

"We'll continue our investigation, and we can't eliminate the possibility that we'll prosecute or arrest more people in the future."

Wong went on to say police have asked Interpol to issue red notices for three suspects on the run – two of whom believed to be the masterminds of the scam.

He said some HK$228 million of assets have been frozen over the case.

The latest arrests come more than two years after officers first detained 80 people when the local securities regulator revealed that JPEX had been operating without a licence.

The platform was advertised widely across Hong Kong back then, and the force said investors were promised high yields.