Woman gets five months for misleading ICAC
2011-10-31
A woman was today (Monday) sentenced to five months’ imprisonment at Kowloon City Magistracy for misleading the ICAC by making a false accusation against an officer of the Customs and Excise Department (C&E), accusing him of accepting bribes from the proprietor of a pirated disc shop.
Lam Yuen-na, 58, was earlier found guilty of one count of knowingly misleading ICAC officers, contrary to Section 13B(b) of the ICAC Ordinance.
Deputy Magistrate Mr Chan Ka-sing said a custodial sentence had to be imposed on the defendant as making a false accusation against a public officer was a serious offence.
The court heard that on September 11, 2009, the defendant was arrested by a customs officer of C&E for selling pirated discs at a pirated disc shop in Shamshuipo.
The defendant was subsequently charged with an offence of possession of infringing copies of copyright works without a licence. In October 2010, she was convicted of the offence after trial at a magistracy, and jailed for nine months.
In January 2011, she wrote a complaint letter to the ICAC Commissioner whilst serving her sentence at the Lo Wu Correctional Institution.
The court heard that in the complaint letter, she accused that the customs officer was involved in corruption, and maintained her innocence in the case.
Upon receipt of the complaint letter, two ICAC officers paid a visit to the defendant at the correctional institution where she gave a witness statement in respect of her corruption complaint.
In her witness statement, the defendant stated that on September 11, 2009, she saw the customs officer accepting a pile of cash of unspecified amount from an unidentified Chinese male aged 60 or above.
The defendant alleged that the cash was bribe money paid by the proprietor of the pirated disc shop to the customs officer in return for not being prosecuted for offences of selling pirated discs.
The defendant also claimed that she had insufficient money to pay for her cash bail of $5,000.
ICAC enquiries revealed that the allegation against the customs officer was unsubstantiated, and that the defendant paid $5,000 for her bail out of her own pocket, the court was told.
C&E had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
An ICAC spokesman warned that it is a serious offence to mislead the Commission by knowingly making a false corruption complaint against any person, and abusing the Commission’s resources.
“However, any person who reports suspected corruption to the ICAC in good faith should not be deterred or fear prosecution even if the allegation may turn out to be unsubstantiated,” the spokesman said.
The prosecution was today represented by Public Prosecutor Dominic Ngai, assisted by ICAC officer Charis Lau.
Lam Yuen-na, 58, was earlier found guilty of one count of knowingly misleading ICAC officers, contrary to Section 13B(b) of the ICAC Ordinance.
Deputy Magistrate Mr Chan Ka-sing said a custodial sentence had to be imposed on the defendant as making a false accusation against a public officer was a serious offence.
The court heard that on September 11, 2009, the defendant was arrested by a customs officer of C&E for selling pirated discs at a pirated disc shop in Shamshuipo.
The defendant was subsequently charged with an offence of possession of infringing copies of copyright works without a licence. In October 2010, she was convicted of the offence after trial at a magistracy, and jailed for nine months.
In January 2011, she wrote a complaint letter to the ICAC Commissioner whilst serving her sentence at the Lo Wu Correctional Institution.
The court heard that in the complaint letter, she accused that the customs officer was involved in corruption, and maintained her innocence in the case.
Upon receipt of the complaint letter, two ICAC officers paid a visit to the defendant at the correctional institution where she gave a witness statement in respect of her corruption complaint.
In her witness statement, the defendant stated that on September 11, 2009, she saw the customs officer accepting a pile of cash of unspecified amount from an unidentified Chinese male aged 60 or above.
The defendant alleged that the cash was bribe money paid by the proprietor of the pirated disc shop to the customs officer in return for not being prosecuted for offences of selling pirated discs.
The defendant also claimed that she had insufficient money to pay for her cash bail of $5,000.
ICAC enquiries revealed that the allegation against the customs officer was unsubstantiated, and that the defendant paid $5,000 for her bail out of her own pocket, the court was told.
C&E had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
An ICAC spokesman warned that it is a serious offence to mislead the Commission by knowingly making a false corruption complaint against any person, and abusing the Commission’s resources.
“However, any person who reports suspected corruption to the ICAC in good faith should not be deterred or fear prosecution even if the allegation may turn out to be unsubstantiated,” the spokesman said.
The prosecution was today represented by Public Prosecutor Dominic Ngai, assisted by ICAC officer Charis Lau.