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Couple jailed five years for laundering HK$650m

Couple jailed five years for laundering HK$650m

A District Court judge yesterday jailed a couple who admitted laundering more than HK$650 million. Tsoi Suet-ching, 46, and Wong On-hung, 45, pleaded guilty to three counts of money laundering and were jailed for five years and four months.

JULIE CHU

A District Court judge yesterday jailed a couple who admitted laundering more than HK$650 million.

Tsoi Suet-ching, 46, and Wong On-hung, 45, pleaded guilty to three counts of money laundering and were jailed for five years and four months.

The pair - with Tsoi's mother Ngai Lan-fa, 69, Tsoi's younger brother, Tsoi Chit-tsang, 45, and his younger brother's wife, Shi Wenni, 38 - were charged on a total of seven counts involving HK$983 million believed to have been laundered over five years through to 2009.

Tsoi Chit-tsang absconded on July 21, five days after the trial opened. Tsoi Suet-ching and her husband then pleaded guilty to three of the charges that went against them.

Judge Kevin Browne said he believed the couple were neither the masterminds nor the major beneficiaries of the scheme.

However, he said they had played a significant role in the scam and that the amount of money involved was substantial.

The judge allowed the prosecution's application to confiscate HK$5.46 million from Tsoi Suet-ching and HK$3.87 million from Wong.

The couple were ordered to pay the sum to the government by February 14, 2014, or face four more years of imprisonment on top of their current jail terms.

The judge, acting on a prosecution request, left all charges against Tsoi's mother and Shi on file.

But he refused to adjourn Tsoi Chit-tsang's case and decided to continue the trial on August 26, in absentia if need be, because it would best serve the public interest. The judge said the case was of such an "extremely serious nature" that it could be heard in the Court of First Instance.

Tsoi Suet-ching and her husband admitted they had laundered the money - mostly Hong Kong dollars, but also US dollars and renminbi - through the bank accounts held their names and in the names of companies under their control.

Under caution, the couple told the police that they carried out transactions according to Tsoi Chit-tsang's instructions only.

Tsoi Suet-ching claimed she suspected the money might be linked to illegal activities, but did not ask her brother, who said the money was connected with his business.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Couple jailed five years for laundering HK$650m
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