Ten years' jail for Immigration Officer in African passport scam
2001-2-16
An Immigration Officer, charged by the ICAC, was jailed for 10 years by the Court of First Instance today (Friday) for his involvement in illicit passport trade.
Lam Yuk-fai, 42, was earlier found guilty by a jury on one count of possessing a false diplomatic passport purportedly issued by the Republic of Guinea Bissau.
He was also convicted of one count of conspiring with Chu Hak-lan to transfer diplomatic passports of the Government of Sao Tome and Principe to a person known as Arkadiy without reasonable excuse.
Arkadiy was a United States Customs' undercover agent assisting the ICAC in this investigation.
The offences took place between January 1997 and March 1999.
In sentencing, Madam Justice Claire Beeson said the defendant had manipulated the international trust system, had imposed danger on other countries by transferring diplomatic passports and had potentially have caused harm to the reputation of the SAR.
She also noted that there was no element of entrapment in the ICAC undercover investigation.
Chu Hak-lan, a former Senior Inspector of the Customs and Excise Department charged in relation to the same investigation, was jailed for four-and-a-half years for possessing unlawfully obtained passports issued by the Republic of Brazil and conspiracy to deal with proceeds of an indictable offence. He subsequently assisted the ICAC and gave evidence for the prosecution.
Meanwhile, four other criminals were prosecuted and jailed in connection with the ICAC's undercover investigation.
Another Immigration Officer who had accepted bribes for helping a number of Mainland citizens, including an alleged triad leader wanted by the Government of the United States, to enter Hong Kong illegally, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
A former Principal Immigration Officer of the Republic of Sierra Leone was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for selling three diplomatic passports for US$540,000.
An operator of a casino in Macau and his assistant was each jailed for five years for offering to launder US$250,000 (HK$2 million) for the US undercover agent. Their application to the Court of Final Appeal to seek leave to appeal against conviction was refused today.
The prosecution was today represented by Peter Callaghan on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Eric Fung.
Lam Yuk-fai, 42, was earlier found guilty by a jury on one count of possessing a false diplomatic passport purportedly issued by the Republic of Guinea Bissau.
He was also convicted of one count of conspiring with Chu Hak-lan to transfer diplomatic passports of the Government of Sao Tome and Principe to a person known as Arkadiy without reasonable excuse.
Arkadiy was a United States Customs' undercover agent assisting the ICAC in this investigation.
The offences took place between January 1997 and March 1999.
In sentencing, Madam Justice Claire Beeson said the defendant had manipulated the international trust system, had imposed danger on other countries by transferring diplomatic passports and had potentially have caused harm to the reputation of the SAR.
She also noted that there was no element of entrapment in the ICAC undercover investigation.
Chu Hak-lan, a former Senior Inspector of the Customs and Excise Department charged in relation to the same investigation, was jailed for four-and-a-half years for possessing unlawfully obtained passports issued by the Republic of Brazil and conspiracy to deal with proceeds of an indictable offence. He subsequently assisted the ICAC and gave evidence for the prosecution.
Meanwhile, four other criminals were prosecuted and jailed in connection with the ICAC's undercover investigation.
Another Immigration Officer who had accepted bribes for helping a number of Mainland citizens, including an alleged triad leader wanted by the Government of the United States, to enter Hong Kong illegally, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
A former Principal Immigration Officer of the Republic of Sierra Leone was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for selling three diplomatic passports for US$540,000.
An operator of a casino in Macau and his assistant was each jailed for five years for offering to launder US$250,000 (HK$2 million) for the US undercover agent. Their application to the Court of Final Appeal to seek leave to appeal against conviction was refused today.
The prosecution was today represented by Peter Callaghan on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Eric Fung.