2 human traffickers plead guilty after tricking 5 Hongkongers into forced labour overseas
Two victims taken to Sihanoukville in Cambodia while other three transported to KK Park in Myanmar, where they were forced to scam others online
Ma Che-hou, 32, and Joshua Cheung Man-waai, 25, each admitted to a charge of conspiracy to defraud in the District Court on Wednesday. A count of the same offence against a third defendant, Shum Mung-sze, 29, was dropped before trial due to insufficient evidence.
The two convicted men tricked five men, now aged between 20 and 32, into travelling to either Cambodia or Thailand in 2021 and 2022 under the pretence of earning quick cash, collecting prize money or developing business opportunities abroad.
One victim, Ng Sik-ming, 29, told the court he was subject to repeated physical abuse after he refused to work. He said he was assaulted while handcuffed to either a bed or pole, electrocuted with a stun gun and once locked in a cage for four days during his month-long ordeal that began in July 2022, the court heard.