Collapsed building con like 'looting a burning house', says magistrate

A man has been jailed for cheating the government out of HK$36,000 by claiming to be a victim of the To Kwa Wan building collapse - an action a magistrate described as like looting a burning house.

Kowloon City Court heard that Daniel Au Kwok-wai, 25, used the emergency grants to buy gifts for his girlfriend and clothes for himself.

Au, who pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, was jailed for eight months by Principal Magistrate Anthony Kwok Kai-on, who said Au's actions were shameful.

'The city was in shock, and multiple departments set upon the task of bringing in people and aid for emergency relief,' Kwok said, adding that what Au had done was like 'looting a burning house', 'fishing in troubled waters' and 'taking advantage of someone when they're down'.

Au, an unemployed welfare recipient with a history of theft convictions, went to an emergency assistance counter the day after 45J Ma Tau Wai Road collapsed and killed four people on January 29, saying he lived on the fifth floor.

Although he lived in another building 500 metres away, he accepted the money and accommodation in the Shek Lei Transit Centre, spending HK$10,000 on gifts for his girlfriend and HK$5,000 on clothes.

Kwok said some offenders might receive sympathy if they had spent money on necessities but Au would get none, having spent half the funds on luxuries. The courts had given Au many chances, sentencing him to probation orders, training centres and jail for up to four months for various offences, but the punishments had not stopped him offending.