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    A 39-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man engaged in fraudulent activities were sentenced to imprisonment and community service order at the Eastern Magistrates? Court today (August 22).

    The court heard that the Police Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) received complaints from six banks and a financial institution in June 2001 and August 2002 respectively alleging some applicants had submitted false employment letters in their applications for banking facilities such as credit cards and personal loans.

    Investigations by the CCB revealed that some staff members of a multi-layered marketing company selling perfume and aromatic products had provided the false employment letters to its members to apply for the banking facilities.

    After obtaining as more money as possible from either loans or credit cards, the members were required to purchase as many products as possible in order to get promotions to higher ranks and earn more commission from junior members by selling the products to them.

    The man and the woman were arrested separately in October and December 2002. Both of them were charged with conspiracy to defraud on August 16, 2004.

    A total of 74 persons of the syndicate were arrested in the case. Among them, 33 were charged for conspiracy to defraud, supplying and using false instruments and 17 have been convicted separately in different courts since 2003 and the sentence ranging from a fine of $2,000 to 24 months? imprisonment.

    The 39-year-old woman was sentenced to three months? imprisonment while the 29-year-old man was sentenced to 100 hours? community service order at Eastern Magistrates? Courts today. The conviction marks the conclusion of the case.

Police Report No. 7

Ends/Monday, August 22, 2005

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