HKSAR v. LUO XIUHONG

 DCCC828/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONGSPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 828 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Luo Xiuhong, you have been convicted on your own pleas of one charge of conspiracy to obtain property by deception and one charge of possession of a forged travel document.

2.  The conspiracy was an agreement which you reached with a man you say was called Paul on the Mainland, where you come from.

3.  You have admitted that Paul had offered to obtain a false Singaporean passport for you and proposed that you should come to Hong Kong with false credit cards in order to make purchases in Hong Kong. Your reward would be 30 per cent of the price of the goods you purchased using those cards.

4.  You agreed with his proposal and this man supplied you with the forged Singaporean passport bearing your photograph and the name Sally Ho and at least four false credit cards. Three of the cards were Mitsui Sumitomo Mastercards in the name of Sally Ho and one was a UNIBANCO Mastercard in the name of Liu Fang.

5.  On 27 March this year you entered Hong Kong using a valid two-way permit in your own name. On the date of your arrival you made purchases at two pharmacies using false credit cards. At one pharmacy you bought goods worth $4,538, and at another, goods worth $3,655.

6.  At one of the pharmacies you abandoned the UNIBANCO Mastercard in the name of Liu Fang which you had used in that pharmacy.

7.  On the following day, 28 March, you unsuccessfully attempted to use one of the forged Mitsui Sumitomo Mastercards to buy a mobile phone costing $2,240 from a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui. When the shop assistant became suspicious, you made an excuse to leave the shop, abandoning the card.

8.  When you were stopped by the police shortly afterwards they found that in your handbag you had the forged Singaporean passport and two other forged Mitsui Sumitomo Mastercards in the name of Sally Ho.

9.  I take into account that whereas on the first two occasions you had succeeded in obtaining goods on the strength of the forged cards, on the third occasion, on 28 March, you were unsuccessful. However, I have no doubt that if you had not been apprehended by the police you would have gone on to use the forged credit cards in other stores.

10.  A serious aggravating feature of this case is the fact that you entered Hong Kong from the Mainland with the specific object of committing these offences.

11.  The courts of Hong Kong are bound to make it clear to others who may be tempted to enter Hong Kong for the same purpose that severe sentences will follow if they are caught.

12.  I bear in mind that your role was simply to enter Hong Kong and present the credit cards in exchange for goods, but that, of course, was an essential role in this operation.

13.  Had the conspiracy not involved a cross-border element, I would have regarded a starting point of 3 years’ imprisonment appropriate on the conspiracy charge. The cross-border aspect, however, in my view, warrants this court adopting a higher starting point of 4 years’ imprisonment on that charge.

14.  The charge of possession of a false Singaporean passport bearing your photograph warrants a starting point of 18 months’ imprisonment.

15.  However, bearing in mind the principle of totality, I am satisfied that an overall starting point of 4½ years’ imprisonment would be appropriate.

16.  I have listened to all that Mr Pan has said on your behalf. I bear in mind that your dishonesty has resulted in your daughter being deprived of her mother’s care and love for a number of years. I bear in mind that you have no previous convictions in Hong Kong.

17.  The most substantial mitigation in your case are your pleas of guilty. I reflect the mitigating circumstances to which I have referred by giving you a discount of one-third on the starting point to which I have referred.

18.  I accordingly pass sentence as follows.

19.  On Charge 1, 32 months’ imprisonment; on Charge 2, 12 months’ imprisonment, 4 months of which to run consecutively to the sentence on Charge 1, making a total sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment.