Thirteen people were jailed for up to two years yesterday for swindling more than $300,000 from banks by setting up bogus companies.
But Deputy District Court Judge Rickie Chan Kam-cheong reduced the sentence of each of the defendants by six months because prosecutors took years to bring the cases to court.
'The prosecution was only instituted two to three years after they were arrested and no reason was given to explain why it couldn't be done earlier,' Judge Chan said.
The swindlers, aged 23 to 47, were Wong Ka-wah, Lee Yiu-tai, Wu Yuk-lun, Eva Fung Yuen-ling, Wong Chi-wah, Lee Kwok-lun, Cheuk Lai-heung, Grace Yeung Yee-man, Yu Yan-wa, Cheung Chi-pong, Yu Wing-yan, Wong Moon-tong and Lam Chak Ting.
They were charged with three counts of conspiracy to defraud. Eight of them pleaded guilty and five pleaded not guilty.
Each one played a different role in the scam, the judge noted.
