Two men, who are serving their prison terms for an insurance fraud involving “staged” car accidents, were each ordered to serve an additional 18 months for threatening a prosecution witness.

Ng Ting-fai, 32, and Yan Chun-ming, 40, charged by the ICAC, were today found guilty by District Court Judge Day on one count of doing acts intended to pervert the course of public justice.

They were convicted of seeking to interfere with Nip Wai-kwong, a prosecution witness in the trial of Ng, Yan, Yip Hoi-shan and Wong man-chung, between March 27 and April 15, 2002.

Ng and Yan were said to have threatened Nip and offered money to his family through his wife in order for him not to give full and truthful evidence in the fraud trial against them.

Ng and Yan were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for the perversion offence, of which 18 months were to run consecutively with their sentences in the insurance fruad case.

In June this year, Ng and Yan were jailed for 28 months and 20 months respectively for conspiracy to defraud various insurance companies to swindle insurance claims of over $600,000.

The court heard that whilst Ng and Yan were on bail pending the fraud trial, they met Nip’s wife. Nip was then serving a two-year jail term for his role in the same insurance fraud case.

The defendants told Nip’s wife that Wong Man-chung, another co-conspirator in the fraud, would chop her husband as he was going to testify against the gang, and that it would be best for her husband to twist his evidence.

On April 15, 2002, the defendants told Nip’s wife that if she was in financial difficulties, they could offer her $80,000 or $100,000.

The defendants also reminded her that her husband should alter his evidence as Wong would chop him.

The prosecution was today represented by Government Counsel Derek Lai, assisted by ICAC officer Kelvin Choi.