Sixteen persons jailed for conspiracy to defraud

Seven men and nine women were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from two and a half years to four and a half years at District Court today (May 20) after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud.

The court heard that the defendants set up three trading companies in Kowloon area and placed advertisements on newspapers to recruit female junior staff between March 2003 and March 2004.

The defendants claimed that their companies had rejected some business deals owing to small quantities or low profit margin and lured the newly recruited staff to form a partnership to take up the deals.

When the victims agreed, the defendants accompanied them to visit some suppliers in Shenzhen where the victims signed the purchase contracts and paid the down payments.

After the victims fallen into the trap, the defendants told the victims that the buyers would like to increase the quantities of orders and induced the victims to pay further down payment to the suppliers.

When the amounts of the contacts increased and finally the victims did not have enough money to pay for the outstanding amounts, the fictitious suppliers forfeited the down payments and the fictitious buyers also cancelled the deals.

The companies subsequently sacked the victims for poor performance. Some victims reported the case to Police in March 2004.

Twenty-one victims were involved in the case, with a total of $9.14 million were deceived.

Following extensive investigations, Police arrested eight men and nine women, aged 23 to 46, between March and October 2004. They were later charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Sixteen defendants were convicted and the sentences were handed down today. Another 38-year-old male defendant was earlier acquitted of the charge.

Police appealed to job seekers to be aware of dubious recruitment advertisements, especially for highly paid positions requiring barely any skills or academic qualifications. They should also be cautious when required to pay any introduction fee in advance or when invited to join any investment plans, especially those offering get-rich-quick scheme.


Police Report No. 4

Issued by PPRB

Ends/Saturday, May 20, 2006