Boutique owner jailed for 3 years over credit card scam

A clothes shop owner who encoded his customers' credit card information to make fake cards for use on a spending spree was jailed for three years yesterday.

Judge Richard Day convicted Kwok Man-hung of possessing a skimmer - a machine which is used to capture and store credit card information - to make forged cards.

The judge said Kwok, 34, was connected to a sophisticated racket of which the skimmer was just one part of a large-scale deception scheme.

Kwok was found guilty of possession of equipment for making false instruments on April 2 this year. He had denied the charge.

His wife, Chui Lai-chun, 33, was acquitted yesterday of the same charge.

Prosecutor David Chan said Kwok, who co-owned four boutiques in Mongkok with his wife, skimmed three of his customers' ATM cards when they made purchases with them.