HKSAR v. NG YAN YAU

DCCC939/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 939 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to deal with property known or believed to represent the proceeds of crime, contrary to sections 25(1) and (3) of the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Cap.455, Laws of Hong Kong and sections 159(A) and 159(C) of the Crimes Ordinance, Cap.200, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, between August 2009 and 19 July 2010, conspired with a person unknown to deal with property, namely RMB1,053,595 held in an account at the Industrial Bank of China, knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect that the property represented the proceeds of an indictable offence.

2.  The brief facts, which you have agreed, describe how two accounts at the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in the names of two separate people were hacked into on 30 June 2010 and 19 July 2010 respectively. 

3.  Sums of money were then transferred from these two accounts into bank accounts designated by  foreign exchange companies and from there into the account that you opened in August 2009, being the account named in the charge.

4.  Upon being questioned by the police, you told them that someone called Ah Keung asked you to go to Shenzhen to open the account for a reward of $800.  You did so, and after opening the account, passed all the bank documents and bankcard to Ah Keung.

5.  The prosecution have informed me that they have no evidence that you were in any way involved in the hacking of the two HSBC accounts, nor do they have evidence that you were responsible for the eventual transfer of these funds into this account.  I accept that and indeed accept that your only role in this case was stupidly to open the account in the first place.

It is correct, as Mr Wong, your counsel has suggested, that in fact, at the time the money transfers were made in June 2010, you were serving a sentence of imprisonment.

6.  You are 49 years of age and have a number of previous convictions.  The most recent convictions, however, are predominately drug-related and you are a drug addict.  I am told that you are partially paralysed in your leg.  This was caused by you injecting drugs into your leg and a blood vessel bursting. You are unable to work and I understand a CSSA recipient.  I have no doubt that you committed this offence as you were in need of money at the time.

7.  Whilst in no way minimising the seriousness of the indictable offence that is clearly alleged, that is the illegal hacking into other people’s bank accounts via the internet, I do accept that you had nothing to do with this.  Nevertheless, the role that you did take in this illicit operation, albeit small, was significant, as without your assistance in the opening of this bank account the offence could not have occurred.

8.  Taking everything into account including the sums transferred in this account, just over HK$1 million, I adopt as my starting point a term of 2 years’ imprisonment.  I will discount this sentence by one-third to reflect your plea of guilty, coming to 16 months’ imprisonment.