bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

A 41-year-old woman was convicted yesterday of offering a $30,000 monthly bribe to a police inspector if he agreed not to raid a brothel she was running.

Chan Yuk-ping was found guilty of one count of offering a benefit to a public servant by Magistrate Douglas Yau Tak-hong at Kowloon City Court. She was charged with offering the bribe to  Inspector Wong Ho-pui on October 8, 2003, in an attempt to persuade him to ignore the brothel at New Lucky House, on Jordan Road.

Police had raided the premises five days earlier, arresting a manager and four mainland women for suspected vice and related offences. After learning of the raid, Chan wrote a letter to Inspector Wong offering him $30,000 per month in exchange for no further police action.

Inspector Wong reported the case to his superior, and the matter was referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

'She aimed to provide benefits to the police officer to affect the performance of his duties,' said Magistrate Yau.

Chan's lawyer had argued that the defendant did not willingly write the letter, saying others had coached her.

Chan testified the plot was cooked up by a former worker hired to run the brothel, who later became a prosecution witness. But Magistrate Yau ruled the former employee was trustworthy and reliable, while Chan was not.

The defence also alleged Chan had written the letter as a prank while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

A psychiatrist earlier testified Chan was possibly suffering the disorder after being kidnapped on the mainland. However, Magistrate Yau said that  opinion  was based on  facts given by Chan.

A slew of other evidence also showed that Chan was fully in control of her mental faculties, he said. Sentencing was adjourned to August 21 pending psychiatric reports.



Brothel keeper tried to bribe police inspector to stay in business