Hong Kong police have arrested two visitors from mainland China and three residents on suspicion of being part of a syndicate that recruits drivers to provide illegal ride-hailing services in the city by using tourist visas and fake identity cards. The force said on Saturday that it arrested three residents in the past two days in Tuen Mun and Lok Ma Chau for allegedly conspiring to defraud, laundering money and aiding and abetting others to breach their conditions of stay. Police said the case was the second to involve a ride-hailing syndicate in a crackdown in the past week. The trio comprised two men and one woman aged between 41 and 65. Two men from the mainland working as drivers were also arrested in Tai Po and West Kowloon and charged with alleged illegal carriage of passengers for reward, driving without third-party insurance and violating their conditions of stay. Superintendent Basil Tang Yick-kay from the crime division of the northern New Territories said officers had been investigating syndicates that recruited mainland drivers to work in Hong Kong since the middle of the year. Drivers typically arrived in the city as visitors. “The syndicate will apply for drivers’ licences for these mainland drivers in advance and they will arrive in Hong Kong as tourists,” he said. “They will also provide these mainland drivers with cars and verified accounts on ride-hailing platforms while paying the drivers in cash … the syndicate operated in a systematic manner with a clear division of labour.” Although platforms require drivers to submit copies of their Hong Kong identity cards and local driving licences, as well as show proof of car insurance and photos of their vehicle, the syndicate was able to exploit loopholes during the registration process. Some members were in charge of registering accounts on ride-hailing platforms using their Faster Payment System details, bank accounts and mobile numbers, he said. “Some accounts were found to have been registered with fake Hong Kong identity cards,” Tang said. He revealed that one of the leads in the police investigation was discovering that 18 hybrid cars of the same model were registered using a single address in Kowloon, much like a “vehicle fleet”. Tang said that preliminary investigations found that these mainland drivers would receive up to 50 per cent commission per trip. The force is investigating whether other syndicate members were involved in the purchase and registration of the vehicles. “The syndicate hired mainland drivers and used fraudulent means to deceive the ride-hailing platform and passengers for profit, endangering road safety,” the superintendent said. “In the case of a traffic accident, it would be extremely difficult to pursue liability and compensation.” He said police were investigating the syndicate members based in Hong Kong but believed they had a partner on the mainland in charge of recruiting drivers. The government has said it is working with platforms to plug loopholes during driver registration, as they do not use facial recognition technology. Police said conspiracy to defraud and money laundering were very serious criminal offences that could see offenders face a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to HK$5 million. On Thursday, police arrested a 53-year-old man for allegedly providing his information to a separate fraud syndicate to create a rented ride-hailing account. The force is searching for three other suspects in connection with the case. Police launched an investigation after Terry Leung, a 38-year-old sales representative, filmed his ride-hailing experience during his ride from Tsuen Wan and shared it on social media. The videos show a Mandarin-speaking driver, whom Leung said he had booked on the Amap platform on Monday for a trip to Tsuen Wan, admitting that he did not hold a local ID card. The trip was arranged by a service provider, Universe Call, which on Wednesday said that it had permanently suspended the driver’s account. Amap is operated by Alibaba Group Holding, the owner of the South China Morning Post.