A 56-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman have been charged over a lottery fraud case.

In April a Chinese woman living in Canada received a phone call inviting her to join a free lottery. The woman was later told she had won $880,000 but needed to deposit $35,000 into a Hong Kong bank account. She did so but later reported the case to Hong Kong Police.

The bank informed Police on July 5 the suspects attempted to withdraw money from the account and they were arrested. Officers then searched their guesthouse and seized bankbooks, bankcards and forged passports. The bank accounts involved a total of $12 million.

The pair were charged with dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence while the man was also charged with possession of forged travel documents. They will appear in Kowloon City Magistracy today.

Police are also questioning two others suspected to be involved in the swindle.