A waiter of an entertainment complex at Tsim Sha Tsui was jailed for nine months at South Kowloon Court today (Wednesday) for capturing customers ' credit card data for a syndicate which manufactured and uttered false credit cards.

In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Henry Mierczak said the defendant ' s acts had not only impaired the credit card industry, but also the reputation of Hong Kong.

Chan Fai-lung, 23, a waiter of Galaxy Lounge in Chinachem Golden Plaza, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with a person surnamed “ Kwan ” to have in his custody a skimmer for making counterfeit credit cards.

The court heard that between July 1 and 4, 1999, six sets of genuine credit card data were compromised at Galaxy Lounge, a restaurant of an entertainment complex, The 5th Avenue. The complex was operated by Golden Harvest Restaurant Holding Limited (GHRH L).

False credit cards made out of the captured data were subsequently uttered in retail outlets in Japan, causing a loss of $57,212 to various card issuing banks in Hong Kong.

Chan was employed by GHRHL as a waiter responsible for handling credit card payments at Galaxy Lounge.

In June 1999, a man surnamed “ Kwan ” asked Chan to capture credit card data with a skimmer, and offered him $100 as a reward for each set of credit card data captured.

Chan used the skimmer to capture about 16 sets of credit card data. He returned the skimmer to Kwan, and received $1,000 from Kwan as rewards.

The prosecution was today represented by Karvin Yim Kwok-ngai.