Policemen extorted cash from drivers after colliding with their vehicles, court told Two traffic policemen crashed a car into 19 vehicles over nine months while off duty and conned almost HK$26,000 in compensation out of the drivers, a court heard yesterday. Constables Ng Chun-ming, 33, and Hui Man-tai, 30, denied before District Court Judge Colin Mackintosh one count of conspiracy to defraud and an alternative count of conspiracy to steal. Both have been suspended from work. Prosecuting barrister Robert Andrews said the policemen rammed their car into the rear of the vehicles between June 1, 2005, and February 17 last year. The officers then got the drivers to hand over cash compensation ranging from HK$500 to HK$8,000, he said. The victims comprised drivers of 12 taxis, a light goods vehicle and six private cars. He said the constables defrauded the drivers out of HK$25,900. The pair spent HK$18,276 repairing the damage to their own car. The purported traffic accidents were staged at Kai Leng roundabout in Sheung Shui, Ma Tau Wai Road in Kowloon City, Shanghai Street in Mong Kok, and Austin Road, Chatham Road and Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, the court heard. According to police, an investigation was launched following a newspaper report about three taxi drivers who claimed their cars had been involved in collisions with the same car on Canton Road. Mr Andrews said Ng and Hui were attached to the Kowloon East Region traffic unit. On June 21, 2005, Hui became the registered owner of a Saab car with registration number HA891. He said the investigation revealed the collisions were invariably caused by the Saab crashing into the rear of the 19 vehicles while the victims were switching lanes. In most cases, the Saab appeared sufficiently far behind for the victims to change lanes, but then accelerated and collided with their cars, according to Mr Andrews. The victims were asked to pay compensation after negotiating with the two defendants. Either Ng or Hui would be driving when the collisions happened, while the other would be a passenger. The court was told that victims who paid the pair compensation at the scene also signed settlement notes with the defendants. During the investigation, Ng was pointed out in identification parades by some of the victims. One of the drivers, Chan King-tai, said yesterday he had been involved in a crash on January 23 last year, when he was driving his car to Yuen Long. 'When I was about to enter the Kai Leng roundabout, I heard a clicking sound and I knew my car was scratched. 'I saw the rear small light was broken and I told the driver it was very minor,' he said. Mr Chan said he offered to pay because he noticed there were a lot of vehicles behind him and his car was obstructing the road. After negotiating, Mr Chan offered HK$600 to the other driver and signed a settlement note, on which Hui's name was written. The hearing continues today.
