19 Dec 2019
The trial judge accepted the police witnesses as credible and found the written interview record voluntary; the absence of forensic evidence or video recording did not render the conviction unsafe; there was no basis for appellate interference with the credibility findings, so the appeal is dismissed.
13 Mar 2014
The court refused to admit the appellant's late documents because they were hearsay, inconsistent with official identity records, and did not satisfy the statutory tests for fresh evidence; the trial judge's credibility findings and admissions were reasonable and entitled to deference, therefore the convictions and concurrent 18-month sentences were affirmed and the appeal dismissed.
26 Sept 2012
The admissions were lawfully admitted; the gifts and cash, although some were given after the applicant left ICBC, were properly inferable as retrospective rewards connected to his acts as an ICBC agent and thus corrupt under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance; separate counts for dealing (depositing and concealing proceeds) under s.25 were properly framed because the deposits evidenced additional culpability in concealing proceeds and were not precluded by earlier receipt.
16 May 2012
Appeal dismissed. The trial judge properly admitted and relied on the videotaped interview as voluntary after permissibly considering the absence or delay of complaints; credibility findings rejecting the defence explanations were reasonable; applying R v Ghosh the evidence supported a finding of dishonesty and intent to conspire to defraud because payments would not have been made for non‑existent workers and the funds were diverted, therefore the conviction for conspiracy to defraud was safe.
17 Feb 2009
There was no evidence before the magistrate to justify a finding of inducement; the magistrate therefore erred in finding there was no case to answer and in acquitting the respondent. However, because of excessive delay, staleness of evidence, the limited gravity of the offence and the magistrate's role in raising the point, justice does not require remittal for retrial; the acquittal is set aside but a retrial is declined.
20 Mar 2008
The Court held the trial judge properly admitted the interview records and handwriting evidence, rightly assessed witness credibility and resolved discrepancies as immaterial to the core allegations; there was no demonstrable judicial bias sufficient to render the trial unfair; the victims' consistent, corroborated evidence established the frauds so convictions were safe. On sentence, the 2nd applicant's role and the smaller amount involved justified reducing her total sentence from 3 years to 2 years concurrent.
21 Mar 2007
The Court held that the judge correctly identified acts and mens rea attributable to the applicants despite using collective labels, properly admitted A1's voluntary interview records, and that the totality of insider testimony, contemporaneous documents, bank transfers and expert evidence established a conspiracy to defraud the minority shareholders and false accounting by A1; leave to appeal was refused. The Court ordered statutory loss‑of‑time and costs against A2 where appropriate.
25 Apr 2002
The applicants failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that continuation of the High Court trial would make a fair trial impossible or constitute an abuse of process; separation of charges was justifiable on the facts and for case management; the conceded good character does not remove the risk of prejudice but does not warrant a stay; editing of interview records is permissible after admissibility rulings with identified passages to be excised unless defence requires them, and accordingly the applications for a permanent stay were refused.
2 May 2001
Conviction upheld because the trial magistrate properly assessed credibility, accepted voluntary admissions and other evidence proving conspiracy to defraud beyond reasonable doubt; sentence was reduced from six to four months because the magistrate's starting point of six months warranted a two‑month discount for mitigation, primarily lack of personal gain and clear record.
5 Jan 2001
The Court upheld the trial judge's factual finding that the interviews were voluntary after viewing the videotapes; the absence of the applicant's testimony meant alleged hidden psychological effects were speculative; leading or ill-phrased questions affected weight but did not amount to oppression, so the interview records were admissible and the convictions were sustained.