Man sentenced for possessing false instruments

A 23-year-old man was sentenced to a total of three years and 11 months' imprisonment at the District Court today (July 27) for possessing false instruments with intent and possession of a false travel document.

The court heard that officers of the Customs and Excise Department conducted an X-ray check on a piece of luggage at the Airport on January 26 and found 78 counterfeit credit cards (CCCs) and a forged Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport inside the luggage. Half of the cards were with names and the other half were blank cards.

The case was taken over by the Police Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB). Initial investigation revealed that the luggage belonged to the 23-year-old man. The man went to Milan, Italy on January 23 and was refused to enter the country. He then returned Hong Kong on the next day. On his return, he could not locate his luggage and made a report to the airline. The luggage was eventually arrived in Hong Kong on January 26 and was found that 78 CCCs and a forged HKSAR passport were inside when being X-rayed.

An operation was mounted on Janaury 27 with a CCB officer disguised as a courier delivering the lugguage to the residence of the man in Tseung Kwan O. The man was subsequently arrested.

Follow-up enquires revealed that the man received $20,000 for delivering the CCCs and the forged passport to an unknown person in Italy. The man was later charged with possessing false instruments with intent and possession of a false travel document.

He was sentenced to 42 months' imprisonment for possessing false instruments with intent while ten months' for possession of a false travel document. Part of the second charge runs concurrently with the first charge and he was sentenced to a total of three years and 11 months' imprisonment at the District Court today.


Police Report No. 3
Issued by PPRB

End/Friday, July 27, 2007