刑事檢控科各律師/高級律 - Department of Justice

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The roles of A1 and A2 in the frauds were considerable, and
they played many parts in the scams. The roles of A3 and A4
were less significant, and they were ‘special agents ’ whose job
was to pose as new recruits to the company, befriend the victims,
mollify their concerns and then induce them to ‘invest’ their
money in the purported trading activities of the company.
Held :
On appeal
(1) As regards A1 and A2, the judge was bound by the
sentencing jurisdictional limit in the District Court of 7 years’
imprisonment, and was constrained by law to impose that
maximum sentence on each of them. That was in accordance with
established principle. It did not mean, however, that he was as
equally constrained to reduce the sentences for the other
conspirators, whose sentences fell within his sentencing
jurisdiction, by the same ratio. There could be no doubt that by
reducing the sentences of A1 and A2 by a year the judge had the
sentences imposed on the three masterminds well in mind;
(2) It was a matter of great surprise that a Loco-London
Gold/Silver fraud of this magnitude had been prosecuted in the
District Court rather than the Court of First Instance especially in
relation to the masterminds;
(3) A3 and A4 had associated themselves with very serious
crimes. Loco-London Gold/Silver frauds were one of the most
heartless crimes of deception practiced in Hong Kong: HKSAR v
Ching Chun-wai Cr App 11/2001. They targeted ordinary
members of the public and not banks or similar commercial
organizations. They required a great deal of planning and
considerable skill in execution. If successful, they ran for a long
time before being closed down. They earned their perpetrators a
great deal of money - a known $31 million in this case. They
required a sizable number of willing conspirators to operate
successfully and they corrupted those who were drawn into the
work for them;
(4) The only roles the prosecution witnesses spoke of A3 and
A4 playing with the fraudulent companies was that of ‘special
agents ’ or callous befrienders, and their roles were lesser than
those of A1 and A2, both of whom were accomplished actresses
playing many parts in the scams. It was the case, however, that
Loco-London Gold/Silver frauds could not work without ‘special
agents ’ , who played one of the most important roles in these
scams;