VCD prirates busted. And top Customs officials, and 1.2M disks per day. They even have a DVD line setup.............................
scmp.com
Acting Senior Superintendent Gregory Wong Pui-sham, 49, head of the Customs and Excise Department's prosecution, intelligence and investigation bureau, was understood to have still been in Independent Commission Against Corruption custody last night...
...Wong, who is married, joined the department in 1971 and is one of its 20 most senior officers.
He is believed to have been suspended from his bureau post, responsible for prosecuting Customs offences and collecting intelligence on smuggling activities.
Eleven other people were arrested yesterday in the operation by more than 200 ICAC officers, who also seized seven million illegal discs, a range of master discs and 41 production lines capable of producing about 1.2 million copies a day.
Raids were mounted on 55 premises in Fanling, including a production facility running under the name Science Technology Research Ltd.
Another million copied discs were found inside two containers in the Cha Kwo Ling cargo-handling area, waiting to be shipped.
Investigations were sparked by allegations that members of a counterfeit video compact disc (VCD) syndicate offered bribes to a Customs officer in return for his protection, including getting warnings of impending raids.
ICAC Acting Assistant Director of Operations Neil Maloney said it was believed the case was an isolated one.
"There is no evidence of large-scale corruption but an isolated incident . . . tipping off [video pirates] prior to raids or inspections," he said.
The Customs and Excise Department also said it was an individual incident though Deputy Commissioner Raymond Li Wai-man announced procedures designed to minimise officers' exposure to graft temptation would be reviewed.
Among the production lines discovered just before midnight on Sunday, Mr Maloney said, 38 were in operation and 33 of those had been confirmed to be producing counterfeit compact discs.
"One production line was making counterfeit stampers [master discs]. We believed it is the first time this has been discovered," he said.
Another line was set up to produce digital video compact discs (DVDs), also the first of its kind to be found in Hong Kong. Most of the pirated discs, including the latest Western and local films and karaoke discs, were destined for the mainland, Mr Maloney said. Alleged key members of the syndicate, which had been working for about a year, were among those arrested. |
