Deliveryman jailed for P4M money-laundering scam

Eastern Magistracy

HE was crying in the dock, while his pregnant girlfriend was crying in the gallery of the court where he was sentenced for getting involved in money laundering.

Twenty-two-year-old FD on Jan. 9 was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offense.

Eastern Court Magistrate Cheng Limchi, however, reduced FD’s sentence to eight months in prison owing to his guilty plea, and then further reduced it to six months, noting the extended period of investigation prosecutors took before finalizing the case against the defendant.

“You are obviously remorseful and previously had a clear record. You were relatively young at the time of the offense in 2013…In any event, your girlfriend is pregnant and don’t commit any offense in the future so you could support your girlfriend or wife and baby in the future,” said Judge Cheng.

The charge sheet against FD, who previously worked as a deliveryman, stated that he had allowed the use of his bank account and ATM to an “unknown man” who withdrew a total of HK$587,289 from the HK$587, 289.55 deposited to the account.

The money was deposited in September 2013 by two companies – one based in Turkey and the other based in Peru – that buy electronic products and other products from mainland China.

It was learned that email messages were sent to these two companies, giving them instruction to deposit the amount to the account. The payment was made for the purchase of hair clippers and shavers, and mosquito nets.

After they discovered it was a fraud, the two companies reported the transactions to the Hong Kong Police. FD’s account was opened on Aug. 23, 1987 under a trading company whose sole proprietor was FD, who at the time was earning $9,555 monthly.

The account only remained active for a week, and no other notable deposit was made except for the deposits made by the two companies.

In March 2014, FD was arrested for money laundering, and admitted opening the company and the account and withdrawing the amounts.

He said he had done so “at the instructions of an unknown male”. The defendant was released on police bail, but after the arrest he failed to report to the police.

In October 2015, the police learned of FD’s whereabouts and arrested him again.

Following investigation, the defendant was charged at the Eastern Magistracy in November. While the judge was giving the sentence, the defendant was seen crying in the dock and nodding his head.