Duo jailed for lottery fraud
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A 56-year-old man was jailed for five years and a 22-year-old woman jailed for 16 months, after they were convicted in the District Court today (April 6) of money laundering.

The court heard that in April and July last year, two women, one in Singapore and the other in Japan, received phone calls from a man speaking Putonghua who claimed he was from a company in Hong Kong and told them they had won a cash award of $45 million in a lottery. To receive the prize, the women were required to deposit advance fees into designated bank accounts.

The victims deposited a total of about $2 million as instructed but did not receive any reward. A report was then made to Hong Kong Police.

The investigation was taken over by the Commercial Crime Bureau and it was found that the 56-year-old man and the 22-year-old woman had received and withdrawn about $20 million since October 2005. They were subsequently arrested on July 5, 2008.

The two were charged with dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence. The sentences were handed down today.

Police appealed to people to be cautious when they received any unsolicited offers by means of promising awards on payment of any advanced fee. People should verify the source of any offers and report to the police if in doubt.

Police Report No. 5
Issued by PPRB

Ends/Monday, April 6, 2009
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