Married man accused of setting up sham marriage for his mainland mistress cleared of fraud
The customs officer had fathered the woman’s child in 2007
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 31 March, 2016, 5:34pm
UPDATED : Friday, 01 April, 2016, 2:24am
Jasmine Siu
A married customs officer has been cleared of fraud concerning a sham marriage for his mainland mistress. Both the mistress and the man’s colleague were also cleared.
That came after the magistrate found it inappropriate to rely on the evidence of a key prosecution witness, the supposed sham husband.
The Fanling Court previously heard mainland housewife Tong Xiaohong, 32, Customs and Excise Department superintendent Lee Hon-wah, 53, and senior customs officer Lam Yui-keung, 46, deny one joint count of conspiracy to defraud.
It was alleged that the trio conspired for Tong to marry another man, Liu Kin-ming, to defraud the Immigration Department in her application to enter and stay in Hong Kong.
Tong had confessed to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in a video interview she was having an affair with Lee, who fathered her elder daughter in 2007. She also told investigators that she requested Lam arrange for a man to marry her and was subsequently introduced to Liu.
Liu, meanwhile, testified under immunity from prosecution that the marriage was strictly on paper.
But magistrate Colin Wong Sze-cheung found there were inconsistencies between Liu’s statements to the corruption watchdog and his live testimony in court.
He described Liu’s evidence as dishonest, adding it would be inappropriate to rely on his word to convict the defendants when the benefit of the doubt goes to the defence.
The magistrate said it was suspicious for Lee to leave with Tong after her wedding with Liu on March 4, 2013.
But he also pointed that the three shared a complicated relationship as Lee fathered Tong’s first child while Liu testified as not knowing whether Tong’s second child could be his.
Wong further noted that Liu had accompanied Tong to prenatal check ups prior to her child birth in December 2013, and often handled matters with her and Lee.
“That was different from general sham marriage transactions,” the magistrate said before a full house.
A round of applause erupted in the public gallery the moment the magistrate announced the acquittals, but the defendants did not visibly react to the verdict.
Customs said in a reply to the Post that it “upholds high standard of integrity of staff and there are established guidelines on conduct and discipline”, adding that it will handle any non-compliance case seriously.
