Six years and eight months for former Immigration Officer in illicit passport trade
2006-5-25
A former Immigration Officer, charged by the ICAC, was today (Thursday) jailed for six years and eight months after pleading guilty to his role in illicit passport trade, as a re-trial of the case was due to commence.
Lam Yuk-fai, 48, pleaded guilty at the Court of First Instance to one count of conspiracy to transfer a travel document to another without reasonable excuse.
Lam was found guilty by a jury on the same charge in 2001, and was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by the trial judge.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Lam’s application for appeal in 2002.
Lam subsequently sought leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), which allowed his appeal in April this year and ordered a re-trial.
When Lam appeared today for the pre-trial review for the re-trial scheduled in June, he pleaded guilty to the charge.
The charge stated that Lam had conspired with a former Senior Inspector of the Customs and Excise Department (C&E) to transfer diplomatic passports of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe to a person known to him as Arkadiy, without reasonable excuse.
Both Lam and the C&E officer were aware that the would-be passport holders might make use of the advantage of the diplomatic passports to carry out criminal activities, the court heard.
The offence took place between November 1, 1998 and March 3, 1999.
Arkadiy was a United States Customs’s undercover agent assisting the ICAC in the investigation, which arose from a corruption complaint.
In sentencing, Mr Justice Pang Kin-kee reprimanded the defendant for abusing his position and authority at the time of the offence.
The judge said the starting point of 10 years meted out by the trial judge in 2001 was appropriate, adding that he had reduced the jail term to six years and eight months after taking into account the defendant’s guilty plea.
The prosecution was today represented by Paul Loughran, counsel on fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Eddie Chan.
Lam Yuk-fai, 48, pleaded guilty at the Court of First Instance to one count of conspiracy to transfer a travel document to another without reasonable excuse.
Lam was found guilty by a jury on the same charge in 2001, and was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by the trial judge.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Lam’s application for appeal in 2002.
Lam subsequently sought leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), which allowed his appeal in April this year and ordered a re-trial.
When Lam appeared today for the pre-trial review for the re-trial scheduled in June, he pleaded guilty to the charge.
The charge stated that Lam had conspired with a former Senior Inspector of the Customs and Excise Department (C&E) to transfer diplomatic passports of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe to a person known to him as Arkadiy, without reasonable excuse.
Both Lam and the C&E officer were aware that the would-be passport holders might make use of the advantage of the diplomatic passports to carry out criminal activities, the court heard.
The offence took place between November 1, 1998 and March 3, 1999.
Arkadiy was a United States Customs’s undercover agent assisting the ICAC in the investigation, which arose from a corruption complaint.
In sentencing, Mr Justice Pang Kin-kee reprimanded the defendant for abusing his position and authority at the time of the offence.
The judge said the starting point of 10 years meted out by the trial judge in 2001 was appropriate, adding that he had reduced the jail term to six years and eight months after taking into account the defendant’s guilty plea.
The prosecution was today represented by Paul Loughran, counsel on fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Eddie Chan.