HKSAR v. FENG YUANYI

 DCCC1387/2010

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONGSPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 1387 OF 2010

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  Defendant, you stand convicted on your own plea of guilty of two charges of conspiracy to deal with property, being HK$120,000, that is Count 2, and HK$30,000, that is Count 3, known or reasonably believed to represent the proceeds of an indictable offence, contrary to section 25(1) and (3) of the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Cap.455, and section 159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance, Cap.200, Laws of Hong Kong.

2.  The offences took place on 27 October 2010, and according to the Summary of Facts, which you have agreed, at about 3.30 pm on that day you were intercepted by police who observed you picking up an envelope which contained HK$120,000 cash from a flowerbed on Ko Shan Road. You were arrested for deception, and under caution, you told the police that you did not plan the scam but were only instructed to pick up the money.

3.  When you were searched a remittance receipt dated 27 October 2010 for HK$30,000 was found in your possession, and you further informed the police that the money to which the receipt related was also obtained by deception but that you were only responsible for picking up the money and remitting it; you were not responsible for the planning.

4.  It is apparent from the brief facts that the HK$120,000 was the proceeds of a telephone scam whereby a 73‑year‑old lady had been duped into believing that her son was being detained by someone as a result of a debt that was owed and that he would be released upon settlement by the old lady.

5.  Accordingly, the old lady withdrew the money from the bank and followed instructions by placing the money in an envelope and depositing it in the flowerbed.

6.  I am told and accept that you were not a party to this scam, there is no direct evident of that, and I emphasise that I do not sentence you on the basis that you were involved in it.

7.  You role was simply to pick up the money and deliver it somehow to the perpetrators, which is what you had done with the $30,000 being the subject matter of Count 3. However, as is apparent from the Summary of Facts, you were clearly aware that both sums, that is $120,000 and the $30,000, were the proceeds of deception.

8.  You are 33 years of age, a resident of the mainland, where you live with your wife and two children. You, I am told, come from a humble background being a farmer. Your father is blind and you have incurred family debts back on the mainland. Due to the present incarceration, your wife, I am told, has to sell the family farm in order to pay off the debts.

9.  In sentencing you, I take into account all of these matters. I also take account of the fact that with regard to the $120,000 the full amount has been recovered. Additionally, you yourself stood to benefit $1,000 per day from your role in this enterprise, but in actual fact you received nothing. I also of course take account of your plea of guilty to both of these charges.

10.  Offences of this nature vary considerably from case to case and as such there are no sentencing guidelines.

11.  Taking the matters that I have referred to into account, on Charge 2 I adopt a starting point of 18 months’ imprisonment. I will discount this by one-third to take account of your plea of guilty, coming to 12 months’ imprisonment on Charge 2.

12.  Similarly on Charge 3, I adopt a starting point of 18 months’ imprisonment. This will again be a discounted by one-third to reflect your plea of guilty, coming to 12 months’ imprisonment.

13.  Despite the fact that these two charges are separate and distinct offences, I am prepared to order that 6 months of the period of 12 months on Charge 3 is to run concurrently to the sentence on Charge 2 to reflect the overall criminality and the fact that the offences took place on the same day, coming to an overall sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment in all.