
A Hong Kong man has been jailed for 11 months and fined HK$4,500 (US$574) for selling his digital wallet so it could be used by a crime syndicate to receive HK$25,500 defrauded from donors, who believed the money would be used to help victims of the Tai Po fire.
West Kowloon Court heard on Thursday that Cham Shu-shing, a 32-year-old cook, had sold his Alipay account to an unknown group of scammers last year for HK$3,800, knowing it would be used for illegal purposes.
A police investigation revealed the wallet was used to handle HK$64,886.45 in illegal proceeds between October 25 and November 30.
Advertisement
The victims included four people who sent a total of HK$25,500 to the account after seeing a social media post calling for donations to help residents of Wang Fuk Court, whose homes were destroyed in a deadly fire last November.
The wallet had 46 deposit and 48 withdrawal records between October 25 and November 30. Only HK$6.83 was left in the account a day before it was suspended on December 1.
Advertisement
Cham pleaded guilty to a count of money laundering before Principal Magistrate Don So Man-lung.
The defence said in mitigation that the defendant, a father of one, was unemployed at the time and needed to earn some quick cash.

Don't Miss:
-
PLA stages South China Sea drills days after ‘illegal’ Philippine territorial bid
-
Japan quake evacuees with pets find refuge at Kumamoto animal hospital
-
India and China revive Himalayan trade at high-altitude pass
-
‘It will take time to change smoking culture,’ official says after 1,200 site checks
-
Taiwan’s political parties deadlocked over efforts to boost military drone capacity

Europe sanctioned crypto exchange HTX. Experts say the firm is deploying tactics that could blunt the impact.
China Leapfrogs into Global Biotech
Tension in One of Asia’s Flashpoints