Prisoner of Stanley Prison charged by ICAC gets 10 months’ jail for offering $500,000 to DoJ prosecutor

2024-9-19

A prisoner of Stanley Prison, charged by the ICAC for offering a bribe of $500,000 to a public prosecutor of the Department of Justice (DoJ) for the latter’s assistance in interfering with the trial of another criminal case which the prisoner faced, was today (September 19) sentenced at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts to 10 months’ imprisonment.

Ko Wai-kin, 40, earlier pleaded guilty to one count of offering an advantage to a public servant, contrary to section 4(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).

In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Jeffrey Sze Cho-yiu noted that bribery undermined the core values of a society. Noting that the defendant had various criminal records and a weak law-abiding awareness, the magistrate took a starting point of 15 months’ imprisonment and reduced the jail term by one-third to 10 months, having considered the defendant’s guilty plea. The prison term was to run consecutively with that the defendant was currently serving in relation to other cases.

At the material time, the defendant was serving a jail term at Stanley Prison. He was also involved in a deception case which would be tried at the District Court. In late February 2023 at Stanley Prison, the defendant requested to send a registered mail containing a photocopy of a handwritten letter to a then Acting Senior Public Prosecutor of the DoJ.

The court heard that in his letter, the defendant noted that he would offer a bribe of $500,000 to the then Acting Senior Public Prosecutor, seeking the latter’s assistance to interfere with the legal proceedings of the deception case by concealing the involvement of other offender(s) in the case and their criminal acts. The defendant also sought assistance in deceiving the court into concluding the case in the belief that he was solely responsible for committing the offences concerned.

Upon receiving the mail, the then Acting Senior Public Prosecutor reported the matter to the management at once, and the DoJ immediately referred the case to the ICAC. The DoJ and the Correctional Services Department had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.

The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Choice Choi, assisted by ICAC officer Wilson Lam.

An ICAC spokesperson stressed that the Commission would take stringent enforcement actions against any illegal act of bribing public servants and bring the offenders to justice. Under the POBO, making a promise to offer an advantage is equivalent to offering an advantage. The maximum penalty on conviction of the offence is a seven-year imprisonment and a fine of $500,000.

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