Couple jailed five years for laundering HK$650m

A District Court judge yesterday jailed a couple who admitted laundering more than HK$650 million.

Tsoi Suet-ching, 46, and Wong On-hung, 45, pleaded guilty to three counts of money laundering and were jailed for five years and four months.

The pair - with Tsoi's mother Ngai Lan-fa, 69, Tsoi's younger brother, Tsoi Chit-tsang, 45, and his younger brother's wife, Shi Wenni, 38 - were charged on a total of seven counts involving HK$983 million believed to have been laundered over five years through to 2009.

Tsoi Chit-tsang absconded on July 21, five days after the trial opened. Tsoi Suet-ching and her husband then pleaded guilty to three of the charges that went against them.

Judge Kevin Browne said he believed the couple were neither the masterminds nor the major beneficiaries of the scheme.

However, he said they had played a significant role in the scam and that the amount of money involved was substantial.

The judge allowed the prosecution's application to confiscate HK$5.46 million from Tsoi Suet-ching and HK$3.87 million from Wong.