Three jailed over false anti-epidemic fund applications
Bastillepost · 3 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
Three men were sentenced at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting as a temporary District Court, after being convicted of attempting to defraud the government’s Anti-epidemic Fund through the Retail Sector Subsidy Scheme. The court heard that false information was used to portray multiple entities as retail businesses during the Covid-19 period, with applications ultimately rejected. Deputy Judge Wong Sze-cheung said imprisonment was the only appropriate punishment because the offences were serious and planned, but he reduced the terms after finding there had been unreasonable delay between the arrests in September 2020 and the prosecution more than three years later. The three convicted men received jail terms of 27 months, 9 months and 8 months, and director disqualification orders were also imposed.
Key Points
- The five defendants were Lau Wai-kuen (劉偉娟), Mo Chung-wai (毛仲偉), Ho Ching-fung (何政峰), Chung Wai-kuen (鍾偉權) and Mo Ka-chun (毛嘉進), but Lau and Mo Chung-wai were earlier acquitted.
- The convicted trio were Ho, Chung and Mo Ka-chun, who were found guilty after trial of 11 counts of attempted fraud linked to false subsidy applications.
- Police said the men submitted false shop photographs and supporting documents, claiming to run 11 retail businesses and seeking a total of HK$880,000
- The applications described businesses including legal books, construction tools, jujitsu goods, bird’s nest, food, daily necessities and teaching materials as retail operations.
- Judge Wong said each application involved HK$80,000, no actual loss was caused because all applications were rejected, but one defendant even filed false documents on appeal.
Why It Matters
The case underlines the criminal risks of using false documents to seek public money, even where no payout is ultimately made and the applications fail. It also draws attention to how long prosecution delays can affect sentencing, with the court expressly reducing punishment because the defendants were arrested in September 2020 but charged only more than three years later.