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Two men in the "Famous City" fraud group were arrested and sentenced to four years in prison
Two unemployed men carefully planned a shocking scam, pretending to be the owners of Tai Wai's "Famous City", using a multi-million dollar luxury house as bait, and successfully defrauded the buyer of a deposit of 2.92 million yuan! One of them forged an identity to open a bank account to receive payments, and the other signed a contract with a fake ID. Their scam was so sophisticated that even real estate agencies and law firms fell for it. After the police unraveled the case, the two were finally brought to justice. The District Court sentenced Tam Kin-lung to four years in prison and Chan Hon-ming to three and a half years in prison.
The judge denounced the pair of "professional scammers" for their deep knowledge of the operation of the property market and their forged documents with a high degree of realism, making their crimes heinous. However, the mastermind is still at large and the police are doing their best to hunt him down. How did this case succeed? What kind of tricks are hidden behind this? Let’s find out.
The protagonist of the scam: the criminal path of a cook and a fitness trainer
The first defendant, Tan Jianlong, aged 41, used to work as a cook and transport worker. His life seemed ordinary, but he went further and further down the road of crime. He pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including money laundering, using false documents, possessing and using other people's identity cards, and even drug possession, making him a "criminal all-rounder". The second defendant, Chen Hanming, 36, is a former fitness coach.Indecent assaultAfter losing his job, he went astray and pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud, conspiracy to defraud and attempted fraud. The two conspired in 2015 and used the identities of the owners of a unit in "Famous City" to set a trap and target unsuspecting buyers.
Smart scam: fake identity, real check
The case is jaw-dropping. Chen Hanming pretended to be the owner by using a forged identity card and lease agreement, and claimed to the real estate agent that he was willing to sell the unit for HK$9.2 million. He signed the provisional contract, formal contract and transfer deed step by step, and successfully obtained three checks with a total value of 2.92 million yuan from the buyer. At the same time, Tan Jianlong changed the name on his ID card to the name of the real owner, opened a bank account to receive the huge sum of money, and quickly withdrew the cash. After the robbery, the two men disappeared until the police intervened, only then did the truth come to light. Under warning, they all claimed that they were "instructed by someone" and were later paid 100,000 yuan and 40,000 yuan respectively, but the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes remains a mystery.
Court ruling: Four years in prison is a wake-up call
The District Court judge solemnly pointed out yesterday that the scam was carefully planned. The two defendants were familiar with the loopholes in property transactions and used high-quality forged documents to deceive real estate agents and law firms. Their behavior was extremely bad. Tan Jianlong was sentenced to four years in prison, while Chen Hanming was sentenced to three and a half years. Chief Inspector Yan Xiaoyu of the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Police said outside the court that he welcomed the court's ruling and revealed that they were hunting for the two fugitive masterminds. He stressed that although this case did not involve a fraud group, the professionalism of the methods was enough to make people vigilant.
Property fraud cases are frequent: How can citizens protect themselves?
Police data show that property sales fraud cases have been rampant in recent years. There were 22 cases in the year before last, involving a total of HK$160 million; last year, the number dropped to 7 cases, involving HK$53 million; but in the first four months of this year, there have been 5 cases, involving HK$14 million, indicating that scammers are still raring to go. Yan Xiaoyu called on citizens to be more careful when conducting transactions, to verify the identity of the owner, to require real estate agents or law firms to strictly review documents, and to inspect the units on site as much as possible. If you have any doubts, you can call the Police Anti-Fraud Coordination Centre’s 24-hour hotline at any time.18222"Help."
The mystery remains: Who is the mastermind?
Although the scam has come to an end, the mastermind behind it is still at large. Who is behind the 2.92 million deposit? Will the police be able to bring him to justice? In the era of high housing prices, how can citizens avoid becoming the next victim? This case is not only a punishment for the scammers, but also a warning to society.
Case number: District Court Criminal 482, 877, 892——2017
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