Policeman guilty of attempting to con burglary victim
2007-5-3
A Police Constable, charged by the ICAC, was today (Thursday) convicted of attempting to defraud the daughter-in-law of a victim in a suspected burglary case of $100,000, by falsely representing that the sum would be used as "bait money" for "buying back" the victim's stolen properties.
Cheung Ho-pong, 33, was found guilty of one count of attempted fraud at Kowloon City Magistracy.
Magistrate Mr Sham Siu-man adjourned the case until May 16, 2007 for sentence, pending a background report. The defendant was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent inquiries revealed the fraud offence.
The court heard that at the time of the offence, the defendant was a Detective Police Constable at the Kowloon City Police Station.
On August 9, 2004, he was assigned to investigate a suspected burglary case, which occurred at a residential premises in Kowloon City.
Two weeks later, the defendant met the daughter-in-law and son of the victim.
The defendant falsely represented to them that he had an informant who might be able to recover the stolen properties for them, and solicited $100,000 from the victim's daughter-in-law as "bait money" for buying back the stolen properties from a Filipino woman.
After negotiations, the defendant agreed to reduce the "bait money" to $40,000.
The court heard that upon the instructions of ICAC officers, the victim's daughter-in-law made several telephone calls to the defendants. Their conversations were recorded.
In one of those calls, the defendant told the victim's daughter-in law that he had been posted to another formation, and reminded her not to disclose to his successor about the use of informant in the investigation.
The supervisors of the defendant confirmed that the defendant had not reported to them the deployment of any informant in the suspected burglary case, nor were they aware of the solicitation of "bait money", the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Government Counsel Jonathan Man, assisted by ICAC officer Grace Yee.
Cheung Ho-pong, 33, was found guilty of one count of attempted fraud at Kowloon City Magistracy.
Magistrate Mr Sham Siu-man adjourned the case until May 16, 2007 for sentence, pending a background report. The defendant was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent inquiries revealed the fraud offence.
The court heard that at the time of the offence, the defendant was a Detective Police Constable at the Kowloon City Police Station.
On August 9, 2004, he was assigned to investigate a suspected burglary case, which occurred at a residential premises in Kowloon City.
Two weeks later, the defendant met the daughter-in-law and son of the victim.
The defendant falsely represented to them that he had an informant who might be able to recover the stolen properties for them, and solicited $100,000 from the victim's daughter-in-law as "bait money" for buying back the stolen properties from a Filipino woman.
After negotiations, the defendant agreed to reduce the "bait money" to $40,000.
The court heard that upon the instructions of ICAC officers, the victim's daughter-in-law made several telephone calls to the defendants. Their conversations were recorded.
In one of those calls, the defendant told the victim's daughter-in law that he had been posted to another formation, and reminded her not to disclose to his successor about the use of informant in the investigation.
The supervisors of the defendant confirmed that the defendant had not reported to them the deployment of any informant in the suspected burglary case, nor were they aware of the solicitation of "bait money", the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Government Counsel Jonathan Man, assisted by ICAC officer Grace Yee.