Community service for fireman who lied to get HK$300K loan

A fireman was on Monday handed a 200-hour community service order at Shatin Magistrates’ Courts for deceiving a financial institution into granting him a loan of HK$300,000 by not fully disclosing his outstanding loans.

The 27-year-old defendant Lee Lit-fung had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department until today.

The court heard that Lee applied for a loan of HK$400,000 with a financial institution Public Finance Limited and declared that he only had two outstanding loans totaling over HK$130,000 in April 2021.

The institution later granted a loan of HK$300,000 to him.

The ICAC launched an investigation after a corruption complaint and revealed that Lee did not fully disclose his outstanding loans, including two totaling about HK$180,000 granted by a bank and another financial institution, respectively.

In sentencing, Acting Principal Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong said a community service order was imposed because of considering his guilty plea, remorse, and other mitigating factors.