Commission Against Corruption, Macao SAR

Car insurance swindles with fabricated car accidents were rampant before the Macao handover. Suffering from great losses, the insurance fraternity refused to insure new cars. The Commission Against Corruption later launched an investigation and cracked down cases of insurance scams involving traffic policemen being bribed to forge reports of traffic accidents, which helped the insurance industry return to its normal practice.

The Collegial Bench of the Court of First Instance today (14th) adjudicated a case of insurance swindle and bribery investigated by the Commission Against Corruption five years ago, which included criminal offences of fraud, forgery of documents of special value, forgery of documents and bribery. After trial, the 9 accused were all found guilty. As the key person, the first accused Loi Man Heng, was declared guilty of fraud, document forgery and offering bribes, and sentenced to an imprisonment of 4 years and 9 months; the second accused, traffic policeman Ku Chan Tong, was guilty of document forgery and accepting bribes, and sentenced to an imprisonment of 3 years and 6 months; the third accused, Ng Ion Wa, was guilty of fraud and sentenced to an imprisonment of 3 years with 3 years' suspension; the fourth accused, Ieong Ka Lok, was guilty of fraud and sentenced to an imprisonment of 2 years and 3 months with 3 years' suspension; the fifth accused, Sin Tat Keong, was guilty of fraud and document forgery, and sentenced to an imprisonment of 1 year and 9 months with 2 years' suspension; the sixth accused, Lei Kit Un, was guilty of fraud and document forgery, and sentenced to an imprisonment of 1 year and 10 months with 2 years' suspension; the seventh accused, Chan Pan Vai, was guilty of fraud and sentenced to an imprisonment of 1 year and 6 months with 2 years suspension; the eighth accused, Lou Chi Hong, was guilty of fraud and document forgery and, in combination with his past criminal record, was sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment with 4 years' suspension; the ninth accused, Leong Choi I, was guilty of fraud and document forgery, and sentenced to an imprisonment of 2 years and 6 months with 3 years' suspension.

The Commission commenced investigation in 1998. After data analysis, on-spot investigations and summoning of witnesses, the case was finally transferred to the Public Prosecution Office in 2001. The court hearing began on 4th October 2006. Eight of the accused and seven witnesses presented their testimonies in court, while the eighth accused Lou Chi Hong chose to remain silent.

The court heard that the nine accused had directly participated or assisted in fabricating records of numerous car accidents between 1997 and 1998. Most of the cars involved were expensive European cars. The first accused Loi Man Heng, the planner of the scam, had many times fabricated car accidents and offered bribes to the traffic policeman Ku Chan Tong, who then forged reports of car accidents with which Loi claimed compensation from the insurance companies and succeeded in obtaining a large sum of money. Ku admitted in court that he had three times accepted bribes of MOP3,000 from Loi to assist in forging the reports of traffic accidents. In sentencing, the court also ordered the nine accused to pay the two insurance companies more than MOP180,000 and MOP350,000 respectively as compensation for their losses.

The judge indicated that, despite the fact that Loi only confessed to part of the charges in the indictment, his role in orchestrating the scam was confirmed after the Collegial Bench had carefully examined the documents and analyzed the witnesses' statements and the accused's arguments. It was proved that he had taken the leading role in conspiring with the other accused in swindling insurance.

The judge added that, considering the confessions and remorse of some of the accused, he had imposed commutated sentences according to paragraph 2 of article 66 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The second accused, represented by his lawyer, responded that he would apply for an appeal.