Sidekick of telephone scammer who tried to swindle police jailed for two years and eight months
Victims were police officers who caught man red-handed when he collected cash
A factory worker who agreed to help a telephone scammer swindle HK$300,000 out of three victims, who happened to be senior police officers, was jailed yesterday for two years and eight months.
Wu Yongxiu, 23, helped his friend, nicknamed "Pig Bone", collect ransom from an undercover policewoman after an unknown man called the three police officers at Kwun Tong Police Station by chance and claimed he had kidnapped their sons, the District Court heard.
The three officers were Assistant District Commander David Cameron, Chief Inspector Chung Chi-ming and Senior Inspector Li Ka-yan. Chung and Li were in charge of the high-profile abuse case of Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih.
Wu pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to deal with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence.
Prosecutor Ching Wan-fung said that on December 14, an unknown person called the three police officers and said that he had kidnapped their sons, demanding they each pay a HK$300,000 ransom.
After receiving the calls, Chung instructed Li to buy a pre-paid SIM card to get in touch with the man. Li later sent a sergeant to pay HK$100,000 to Wu, who was instructed by "Pig Bone" to meet the sergeant outside Kwun Tong Fire Station. Wu was caught red-handed.