Careless kidnapper revealed his identity to victim, court hears
An abduction victim was able to identify one of her kidnappers because he had removed his sunglasses to wipe away sweat, pulled down his surgical mask to smoke and chatted with her during her detention, a court heard yesterday. Hung Wai-leong, 42, denied one count each of robbery and false imprisonment in the Court of First Instance. Senior public prosecutor Jonathan Man Tak-ho said Hung guarded the housewife after she was abducted from the car park of a shopping mall in Yuen Long in October 2008. Three men had forced her into a van, stolen her handbag and watch, and demanded the PIN for her ATM card. She was released later the same day and found HK$20,000 had been withdrawn from her account and her credit card had been used to buy a HK$50,000 watch. The trial continues today.
Unions in plea on pest control
Two unions have urged the government to stop using contractors for pest control, saying they are not professionally trained. Of 318 teams, 80 per cent are contractors, while the rest are from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. The Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Staff Rights Union and the Government Frontline Employees Union said their survey found that 75 per cent of government workers felt the reorganised pest control teams had not improved services.
Bank warns of bogus sales calls
Citibank has warned its customers about bogus telesales calls and urged them not to disclose personal data to prevent any unauthorised use. The bank said it had received complaints over the past few months about persistent telesales callers claiming to be from the bank. Citibank said it had nothing to do with the calls, and had alerted police and various watchdogs. It said customers with doubts about the identity of a telephone caller claiming to represent the bank could call its 24-hour hotline on 2860 0333.
