bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

FRANK FENG


Requests to transfer cash come across Ng Hoi-lai's desk all the time in her work at a currency exchange. But she noted something odd about one such request, involving HK$300,000 an elderly person wanted to transfer to his son.
Ng quickly realised the account did not belong to the son and, after a few inquiries, she had no hesitation in passing the case on to police.
It is one of three such fraud cases Ng helped to crack in the six months to January - and her actions saw her receive one of 40 Good Citizen Awards from the police yesterday.
Other recipients were honoured for tackling a range of crimes such as robbery, wounding, drug trafficking and indecent assault last year.
The awards are presented by the force twice a year.
"These 40 awardees really deserve our praise, because their wisdom and courage really helped police arrest suspects," Kwok Wing-keung, a member of the government's Fight Crime Committee, said at the award ceremony. "More importantly, they showed a spirit of cooperation between the public and the police, conveying positive energy to the whole society."

Another recipient involved in fighting financial crime was bank clerk Hon Oi-lin, who in May last year helped crack a cross-border money laundering case. She became suspicious when she saw a remittance from overseas into the account of a Hong Kong business, but noted a discrepancy with the actual nature of the company's business.
Suspicious, she contacted the account holder to ask for the invoice as proof. After receiving only vague responses, she rejected the remittance and contacted police. It turned out the account owner had been involved in laundering more than HK$2 million.
"We are well trained and once we detect anything suspicious, we call the police," she said.
The ceremony comes at a time when polls show growing distrust of the police amid concern over their handling of last year's Occupy protests.
Shirley Yuen, chief executive of sponsor the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, touched on that as she said: "During the past 10 months, the relationship between the public and the police has been challenged a lot, but I hope our public and the police can work jointly to better develop society."
Sonny Au Chi-kwong, acting deputy commissioner of police, said the crime rate per 100,000 citizens fell below 1,000 for the first time since 1973 last year, at 936 crimes.
Chief Superintendent Tsui Wai-hung said: "In recent years, online fraud is happening more frequently, and the suspects always make use of the lack of awareness of senior citizens."


Citizen cops: Hong Kong sleuths who help crack crime honoured with police awards

Ng Hoi-lai (left) and Ng Kong-naat were among 40 people honoured. Photo: Edmond So

Currency exchange worker Hon Oi-lin helped crack three fraud cases. Photo: Edmond So

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

People whose quick thinking and bravery contribute to a safer society win praise


Requests to transfer cash come across Ng Hoi-lai's desk all the time in her work at a currency exchange. But she noted something odd about one such request, involving HK$300,000 an elderly person wanted to transfer to his son.
