HKSAR v. Lo Tsz Fung
Read the full judgment text of DCCC 941/2020 on BabelCite. This District Court judgment was delivered on 12 August 2021.
1. The defendant pleaded guilty to a total of 13 charges. 8 charges are theft of credit cards with the remaining charges of fraud. Charge 9 and 13 to be left on the court’s file and not to be proceeded without the leave of the court.
Cited by 1 case · Cites 3 cases
|
DCCC 941/2020 [2021] HKDC 1114 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION CRIMINAL CASE NO 941 OF 2020 ________________________
________________________
________________________ REASONS FOR SENTENCE ________________________ 1.The defendant pleaded guilty to a total of 13 charges. 8 charges are theft of credit cards with the remaining charges of fraud. Charge 9 and 13 to be left on the court’s file and not to be proceeded without the leave of the court. Summary of facts 2.It is unnecessary to recite all the facts in this case. Suffice to say that the defendant worked as a waiter in the Vesper Bar and Thai Doa restaurant. One of his duties was to handle payments by customers. When the customers paid by credit cards to settle the bills, he delivered the credit cards to the cashier. After settling payments, he brought the credit cards back to the customers. 3.It was during his work as a waiter, he stole the credit cards belonging to the customers except the stolen credit cards in charge 3 and 4 belonged to a staff of Vesper.
4.As to charge 2, apart from two credit cards were stolen, other stolen items included PW2’s identity card, a membership card and one octopus card. 5.For the first two theft charges, PW1 and PW2 found out their cards were missing and suspended them before they suffered any loss. 6.The defendant used other stolen credit cards to make purchase from various shops. 7.The total amount was $244,714.37 and it included $83,841.90 as stated in the fraud charges. Mitigation 8.The defendant has turned 21 this February. He was 19 at the time of committing the present offences. 9.His parents divorced while he was an infant. He was raised by his grandparents. He came to Hong Kong since the age of 8 years old. They lived in poverty. His grandparents worked hard to raise him. 10.The defendant started to take up part-time job when his grandfather passed away. He then came across bad peers and was under the bad influence of his undesirable friends. His friend told him to make quick money by using stolen credit cards. 11.Since he was remanded in custody, he missed the DSE examination this year. The defendant in his mitigation letter expressed remorse. His girlfriend continued to stand by him and asked for lenient sentence on his behalf. Cases 12.The defence referred me to 3 cases:-
Sentence 13.In passing sentence, I bear in mind of all mitigating factors put before me and the cases which have been referred to me by the defence. 14.The offences were committed on different days over a period of 6 months. 15.There were a total of 9 credit cards being stolen from 8 victims. He used 5 stolen credit cards to commit the offence of fraud. The defendant make purchases from different stores including some luxuary stores, such as Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Christian Dior and Saint Lauren. 16.The total amount involved in the fraud charges were $83,841.90 while the actual lost was $244,714.37. 17.The most significant loss of the theft charge was charge 5, there were 97 fraudulent transactions with a total sum of $92,063.63. The defendant used that credit card belonged to PW5 from 13 August to 3 Sept to make purchases from various shops. (charge 6) 18.The defendant committed the present offences when he was employed by the Vesper Bar and the restaurant of Thai Dao as a waiter. 19.When the prosecution witnesses suspended their cards, clearly they could no longer be used. However, the defendant kept their cards and used those cards to present them to other victims as their own ones:-
20.All the cards he returned to those witnesses were in fact from the same banks with the same designs on the face of the cards. This goes to show that the defendant ‘s action was premeditated and he planned ahead when he committed those offences. Charge 1 and 2 21.As for the 8 theft charges, apart from charge 1 and 2 which did not have any fraudulent credit card transactions because the card owners suspended the cards on time. 22.I adopted a starting point of 9 months reduced to 6 months after 1/3 discounts. Charge 3, 7, 10, 11 and 14 23.As to charge 3, 7, 10, 11 and 14, the amounts varied from $6,118.50 to $53,196.08. The defendant actually used those cards to satisfy his materialistic needs. They were used on numerous occasions. They covered a period from 16.7.2019 to 30.11.2019. A total of 4 and a half months. 24.They are more serious than a simple theft of a credit card. I therefore adopted a starting point of 12 months which was reduced to 8 months after 1/3 discount. Charge 5 25.The most significant loss of the theft charge was charge 5. There were 97 fraudulent transactions with a total sum of $92,063.63. The defendant used that credit card belonged to PW4 from 13 August to 3 September to make purchases from various shops. 26.I considered that a 15 months starting point is appropriate, reduce to 10 months after 1/3 discount. Charge 4, 6, 8, 12 and 15 27.As to the fraud charges, namely, charge 4, 6, 8, 12 and 15.
28.There were altogether 5 stolen credit cards involved in the 5 fraud charges from 5 card holders. A total of 17 transactions with a total sum of $83,841.91. 29.It is very much different from the case of Li Chi Yat CACC 189/2018 which only concerned one card on one item on one day. 30.Therefore, the number of fraudulent transactions, the actual loss from each credit card and period of time that the credit card being used are all the sentencing factors to be considered. 31.There are multiple transactions covered a period of 4.5 months with a total of $83,841.90. 32.To this extend, the defendant cannot pray in aid of the case of Li Chi Yat. I considered that a starting point of 3 years for all the fraud charges is appropriate, reduced to 2 years after 1/3 discount. 33.There are several sets of charges which involved the same witness with his/her stolen cards. They are:-
34.To this end, the sentence of each charge:-
35.The sentence:- The defendant is ordered to serve a total of 3 years and 5 months.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cases cited in this judgment
Other judgments that cite this case