Hong Kong police have arrested five people on suspicion of trying to withdraw US$10 billion from a bank in Central using fake documents.

The force said on Monday that officers received a report at 5pm from a staff member of an HSBC branch in the China Building on Queen’s Road Central, where a man and a woman had attempted to withdraw the sum using suspicious documents.

The Post learned that the suspects, a 68-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, both Philippine passport holders, had arrived in Hong Kong earlier in the day.

Police originally said the sum involved was US$100 million but later updated the figure to US$10 billion.

The suspects allegedly approached a counter with three forged bank documents and requested the withdrawal. Staff were suspicious about the paperwork and alerted police.

After an initial probe, officers found the documents to be forged and arrested the pair over the use of false instruments.