Read the full judgment text of CACC 000157/2001 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 12 July 2001 before Stuart-Moore Ag CJHC and Stock JA.
Criminal law – sentencing – conspiracy to defraud – letter of credit fraud – Applicant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Société Générale by submitting false documents to obtain US$891,000 letter of credit in favour of Long Spark (H.K.) Development Limited – Applicant described as 'small fry' who signed fraudulent invoice and transferred released funds – Judge imposed three years' imprisonment – Whether sentencing judge erred in categorising offence as comparable to breach of trust case – whether judge entitled to apply tariffs from R v Trevor Clark which had not been approved in Hong Kong at time of offence – proper approach per R v Chan Kam-chuen – all letter of credit frauds are very serious – whether judge's remarks about suspended sentence created expectation of non-custodial sentence – whether judge adopted appropriate starting point and discount – appeal allowed – sentence reduced from three years to two years' imprisonment – starting point of 4.5 years with one-third reduction for plea and cooperation would have yielded 3 years – further reduction to 2 years justified by judge's inappropriate conduct during adjournment including calling for community service reports 'just to give it a try' and remark about offender 'hearing the clang of the prison door'.
Legal issues: Categorisation of letter of credit fraud as comparable to breach of trust case · Application of R v Trevor Clark tariffs not yet approved in Hong Kong · Appropriate starting point and discount for letter of credit fraud · Creation of expectation of non-custodial sentence by sentencing judge
Outcome: Leave to appeal granted; appeal allowed; sentence reduced from three years' imprisonment to two years' imprisonment.
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