HKSAR v. NG TENG FONG

DCCC 926/2009

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 926 OF 2009

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.  The Defendant pleaded guilty to 2 charges:-

a. Using a false instrument, (a forged credit card) contrary to S.73 of the Crimes Ordinance.

b.  Possession of 19 forged credit cards, contrary to S.75 (1) of the Crimes Ordinance,

2.  At around 3pm on 24 July 2009, the Defendant presented a Capital One Visa Card to PW1 to settle the payment of 2 handbags at the Hermes shop in Queen’s Road Central. While PW1 was calling the card centre for an approval code, the Defendant asked PW1 to return the visa card to him and he left.

3.  Subsequently, the card centre told PW1 that the visa card was a forged one. PW1 then alerted his colleagues about this incident in the other branches.

4.  Around 12:20pm on 25 July 2009, two police officers noticed the Defendant was acting suspiciously outside the Hermes shop at the Pacific Place.

5.  The Defendant entered the Hermes shop at 12:45pm. As he left the Hermes shop at 1pm, PW2 stopped the Defendant for a search and found 19 forged credit cards on him. These 19 cards were all contained in a Marlboro cigarette box, including the one he presented to PW1 the day before.

6.  All these 19 cards were in the Defendant’s name.

7.  Under caution, the Defendant said that he obtained these 19 forged credit cards 2 days ago from an unknown male in Shenzhen. He knew that they were forged credit cards and he had used one of them once.

8.  The Defendant further admitted that he used one of the forged credit cards on 24 July 2009 to made purchase in the Central Hermes shop, but he failed to do so.

9.  In mitigation, I was told that the Defendant is 43 years old. He is a Malaysian. He lives in Malaysia with his parents and an elder sister. He suffered serious injuries to his back and to his right leg in a car accident in 2004. That not only affected his movement in walking, but also his livelihood.

10.  Over the years, he borrowed a lot of money from his friends to support his livings.

11.  His elderly parents and elder sister also depend on him for support. His sister suffers from breast cancer.

12.  To relieve from his financial burden, he agreed to embark on this journey to Hong Kong to use the forged credit cards. He would earn 10% of the total purchase by using the forged credit cards.

13.  He knew that it was wrong to use those forged credit cards and therefore he did not use them in the 2 occasions in the Hermes shops.

14.  He has a clear record.

Sentence

15.  The Defendant is a Malaysian. He came to Hong Kong and went to Shenzhen to collect the 19 forged credit cards to be used in Hong Kong.

16.  The 19 forged credit cards were in his names and had been signed at the back of all the cards. They appeared to be issued from the overseas Banks. That involved a certain degree of planning and international elements: -

a. The Defendant had to agree to the plan to come to Hong Kong from Malaysia to use those credit cards.

b. Before he left Malaysia, a syndicate in Mainland had already prepared those 19 forged credit cards for him to be collected in Shenzhen.

17.  They were intended to be used at high-end luxurious retail shops, such as Hermes in the present case. They were intended to defraud the local retailers. No doubt they would have caused significant financial loss to the relevant credit cards companies if the Defendant successfully used them to make purchases.

18.  In the case of HKSAR v Sun Chun Lei, CACC 476/2002, the applicant who was a visitor from Taiwan, he was convicted after trial, including 2 charges of possession of 14 and 6 forged credit cards respectively; he was sentenced to 5 ½ years concurrently for the 2 charges. The Court of Appeal said that the sentence “ is not a day too long.” It is because credit card offences are serious offences and must be deterred.

19.  As the Courts in R v Wong Fu Keung Crim App 5 of 1991 and R v Kwai Ying-ho Crim App 527 of 1992 had made the following comments :-

“  it is a matter of notorious fact that the illegal use of credit cards has become widespread. Those who are engaged in this type of activity can expect to be dealt with severely by the Court.”

“Credit cards frauds …… erodes the credit card system and damages Hong Kong’s standing in the international community.”

20.  In passing sentence, I have considered all the relevant facts in the present case, the Defendant pleaded guilty to the 2 charges, his clear record, there was no actual loss to the Hermes shop or the credit cards companies, I consider that a starting point of 3 years for charge 1 and 5 ½ years for charge 2 is appropriate.

21.  Charge 1: - 3 years reduce to 2 years

Charge 2: - 5 ½ years reduce to 44 months.

8 months out of the 2 years in charge 1 be run consecutively to charge 2.

Total : 44 months plus 8 months = 52 months.