A man who received HK$2.2 million in compensation for injuries suffered in a police shoot-out was jailed yesterday, as was his wife, for cheating the Social Welfare Department out of almost HK$500,000.
Cheng Chun-fai, 48, was sentenced to 21 months and his wife Chan Nga-sheung, 47, to 18 months after Kwun Tong Court heard they under-reported at least HK$7 million in assets between October 1999 and February 2005.
Deputy magistrate Chan Wing-ho set a two-year term for Cheng - one of 14 civilians caught in the crossfire during a police raid on a building in Tai Kok Tsui in April 1992 - but reduced it by three months on health grounds.
The court heard that Cheng, a former dispensary-shop owner, still had a fragment of a police bullet lodged near his coronary artery that prevented him from working.
Mr Chan said he was sympathetic about this injury that had disrupted their family life, which they could never financially restore.
But he considered their loss had already been dealt with, which made it irrelevant to their crimes.
He condemned the couple's 'ignominious' conduct, saying their deliberate cheating stretched over a long period and involved a substantial sum.
