HKSAR v. CHAN YIU CHI

DCCC905/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 905 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The defendant has pleaded guilty to two charges. The 1st charge is living in whole or in part of the earnings of prostitution. The 2nd charge is one of money laundering, the amount of money being involved is just over HK$1.6 million. The first offence is dated in April 2010; the second offence in May 2010.

2.  In early April of 2010 Miss Zhang Li, a female mainlander aged 18, was smuggled from China into Hong Kong together with another female.  They were smuggled into Hong Kong in the boot of a motor vehicle and arranged to stay at a guesthouse in Tsim Sha Tsui.  There was another similar aged female at the room when Miss Zhang arrived there.  They were told that arrangements would be made for them to work the following day. 

3.  The following day, the defendant who identified himself as “Fay Gor” approached them in the guestroom.  They were told that they should charge each client $500 and that he would collect the money nightly. 

4.  That night, Miss Zhang was arranged to prostitute inside a guestroom of the hotel and she did so for one week.  The defendant collected her earnings most nights.  After a week, it was arranged that she should use another hotel room and she did not see the defendant after that. 

5.  On 25 May a team of police officers executed a search warrant at the residence of the defendant in Tsing Yi.  This was the residence he shared with his brother and his brother let the police officers into the flat to wait for the defendant.  Some 40 minutes later, the defendant arrived with his barrister. 

6.  The police conducted a search of the premises and they came across a safe, and the defendant had the key and password for that safe.  The defendant opened the safe for the police and inside the police found, inter alia, just over HK$2.1 million and just over 16,000 renminbi, US$5,100, just over $90,000 Japanese Yen.  With regard to that property, the defendant said that some of it was his savings.  He said it was the savings of his girlfriend and himself and he had been saving for some 4 to 5 years.  He refused to say why he did not deposit the money into the cash(bank?) and admitted that he had been unemployed for over a year.   

7.  The defendant was positively identified by Miss Zhang at an identification parade conducted in January 2011. 

8.  The defendant has a clear record.  He is 33 years of age and single and he lives with his brother.  He was educated in Hong Kong to diploma level standard and has previously worked on a construction site as a safety officer earning some twenty to thirty thousand dollars a month.  I am told that in mid-2009 he became unemployed.  In December 2009 he was approached by a friend who offered him this job of collecting money from ladies in hotel rooms.  He admits that he knew what the money was for and that he knew that the lady concerned was from the mainland. 

9.  I was told that he was to be remunerated at 10 per cent of the monies he collected.  I am told that the monies which were recovered from by the police were the money he had collected from December 2009.  All the money has now been surrendered to the police. 

10.  The defendant has submitted a number of supporting letters to the court, and his counsel has quite rightly said what is remarkable about it is the number of people who have volunteered to write letters on behalf of the defendant, it is an indication of the respect he is held by his friends.  There is also a very moving letter from his father included in the materials and also a number of certificates. 

11.  The defendant has been under considerable pressure since he was arrested for these offences and that is reflected by the fact that he has had to seek medical assistance; there is a letter from the doctor included with the papers submitted by defence counsel.

12.  I have been referred to a number of cases and, in particular, a recent case, HKSAR v Tam Ka Chun, Danny, CACC406/2010. The defendant in that case was before the court for similar offences to this defendant.  I accept, however, that the facts which were admitted by that defendant were more serious than the facts disclosed in this case.  It is most regrettable that a person with the defendant’s background and qualifications should involve himself in this sordid trade which in Hong Kong is almost inevitably triad-controlled. 

13.  I have taken into account all the circumstances and the submissions made on behalf of the defendant.  I have decided that the appropriate starting point for the 1st charge is a sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment.  The defendant will be given a credit for his guilty plea and that will be reduced to a sentence of 10 months’ imprisonment. 

14.  As regards the 2nd charge, I have decided that the appropriate starting point is a sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment which will be reduced to 2 years to reflect the defendant’s guilty plea.

15.  I have considered the question of totality and decided that 17 months of the sentence on Charge 2 shall run consecutive to the sentence on Charge 1 which will make the total sentence one of 27 months’ imprisonment.