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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Albert Chan in the Legislative Council today (June 24):
Question:
Members of the public have recently relayed to me that a young man travelled to Macao on invitation by some friends he made on the Internet. Instigated by those friends during the visit, he applied for a casino VIP membership card, with which he borrowed money for them to gamble. Although the young man did not take part in gambling, he was subsequently forced to repay gambling debts of 100-odd thousand dollars for them. Debt collectors escorted him back to Hong Kong and harassed him and his family by illegal practices, such as splashing red paint near their residence, and they as a result suffered great mental distress. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of cases, received by the authorities in each month of the past two years, of assistance being sought by persons who had fallen victim to the aforesaid deceptions, as well as the number of relevant people among these cases who were convicted; and
(b) whether it has formulated any measure to prevent young people from falling victim to the aforesaid deceptions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply :
President,
(a) Based on the reports received by the Police from the public, a new modus operandi in loansharking activities has emerged since the third quarter of 2008. Criminals make use of the Internet as a platform to lure victims to Macao where they are tricked into serious debts. From July 2008 to March 2009, the number of such reports, prosecutions and convictions are set out below:
2008
----
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
--- --- --- --- --- ---
Number of 3 2 3 2 2 4
reported
cases
Number of 0 1 1 0 0 1
cases
involving
criminal
offences
Number of 0 1 1 0 0 0
detected
cases
Number of 0 3 2 0 0 0
arrested
persons
Number of 0 1 1 0 0 0
prosecuted
cases*
Number of 0 0 0 0 0 0
convicted
persons
2009
----
Jan Feb Mar
--- --- ---
Number of 4 3 7
reported
cases
Number of 0 0 3
cases
involving
criminal
offences
Number of 0 0 2
detected
cases
Number of 0 0 4
arrested
persons
Number of 0 0 3
prosecuted
cases*
Number of 0 0 0
convicted
persons
* Most of the cases are under judicial proceedings. The cases or prosecutions may involve other criminal offences.
(b) The Police are committed to combating illegal money lending activities and debt collection practices. The Police will continue to rigorously enforce the law and conduct thorough investigation into such cases. They will institute prosecution in accordance with the law where there is sufficient evidence to prove any illegal practices.
With the emergence of the new modus operandi in loansharking activities, the Police have stepped up publicity to raise public awareness of such practice. For instance, the Police have made an appeal through the programme "Police Magazine", alerting youngsters not to fall prey to fraudulent activities out of a moment's greed and encouraging young victims as well as their families and friends to report to the Police so that the Police could take follow-up actions. Since April this year, the New Territories South Region launched the "Operation Outviewer", targeting at deception cases that use the new modus operandi in loansharking activities and other illegal money lending and debt collection activities. As a result, 23 persons were arrested by end May this year. To further raise public alertness, the Police held a press conference and issued a press release on the above-mentioned operation to advise the public not to borrow money from loanshark syndicates; or apply for loans from, or disclose personal information to, financial companies without any money lender¡¦s licence numbers through the Internet. The public is further advised not to accede to any request proposing to transfer their loan applications to any financial companies in Macao when they make loan applications.
To more effectively combat cross-boundary money lending and debt collection cases involving loansharking activities in Macao, the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) of the Hong Kong Police Force and the Gambling-related Crimes Division of the Macao Judiciary Police established a referral mechanism in February 2009, whereby cases involving loansharking activities in Macao are referred to the Macao Judiciary Police for follow-up and investigation. Where there is an appropriate case for referral, the OCTB will activate the mechanism and arrange the victim to report the case, in the company of the investigating officers of the Hong Kong Police Force, to the Macao Judiciary Police so that its Gambling-related Crimes Division can take follow up action. The Macao Judiciary Police will give priority to the following types of cases - the culprits deploying fraudulent means; the victim being a young person or a student; use of violence or threat in Macao by the culprits; or involving circumstances of a particularly serious nature.
As at mid-May this year, the Hong Kong Police Force has referred a total of seven cases involving loansharking activities in Macao to the Macao Judiciary Police for follow-up and investigation. Of these cases, the Gambling-related Crimes Action Group of the Macao Judiciary Police has detected two cases of conspiracy to blackmail and defraud with the arrest of two persons. The Gambling-related Crimes Action Group of the Macao Judiciary Police has also provided information to OCTB of the Hong Kong Police Force on a suspect involved in another case, thereby leading to his arrest and successful prosecution in Hong Kong.
The Police will continue to closely monitor cross-boundary loansharking activities, deploy resources flexibly in the light of circumstances, and take enforcement actions promptly. The Police will also enhance co-operation with the neighbouring law enforcement agencies (including the Macao Judiciary Police) to combat loansharking and illegal debt collection activities.
Ends/Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:20
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