A suspected key player in Hong Kong's biggest forged credit card gang was jailed for 12 years yesterday, double the highest sentence previously passed for similar crimes.
Henry Yau Man-yiu, 35, took part in a scam which had the potential to cause losses worth about $280 million.
Two accomplices, both wanted for similar crimes in Malaysia, were also given long prison sentences. Ng Swee Thiam, 32, was jailed for 10 years and Ng Lea Seng, 33, for 6.5 years.
Deputy Judge Colin Jackson said he would have been failing in his duty to the public if he had imposed shorter sentences. 'Anyone anywhere in the world who has a legitimate credit card should be grateful to the Commercial Crime Bureau for investigating and closing these operations down,' he said.
The operation, which ran a hi-tech production line at 'factories' in Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun apartments, was the most sophisticated uncovered in Hong Kong. The flats were raided in October and December 1996.
One element of the operation was the use of an electronic device to check whether the fake cards would be accepted in shops.
The forgers set up a database containing nearly 40,000 account numbers to produce bogus cards used to buy goods worth $44 million.