In the 2016 Legislative Council election, the information technology sector caused a ticket scandal. Many members of the Taxi Drivers Association (hereinafter referred to as the total) were involved in providing a $1,000 benefit to a number of relatives and friends, inducing them to register as Voters in the information sector and asked them to vote for a designated candidate in the election, but the designated candidate did not win in the end.
Several people who had participated in "ticket planting" were later charged with election fraud-related crimes by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Among them, 11 were convicted. The cases were sentenced in the District Court today (22nd) and all sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 6 weeks to 1 year. The judge also ordered 6 of them to return the gains they received.
The case originally involved 14 defendants, of which 7 pleaded guilty before the trial, 4 were convicted after trial, and the other 3 were allowed not to prosecute.
The defendant includes multiple members of the Lei family
The 7 defendants who pleaded guilty include: Li Weimin (52 years old, then general director of conference affairs), Yang Yaohong (33 years old, then general deputy secretary-general), Pan Xiufang (51 years old, then chief clerk), Lei Yafu (45 years old, The then Director General), Lei Weifang (39 years old, accounting clerk), Lei Jingxian (23 years old, student), Chen Qinan (48 years old, construction worker).
They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to commit fraud in the election to provide benefits to others, and commit fraud in the election to accept benefits.
Among them, Lei Weifang and Lei Jingxian are Lei Yafu's sister and son, and Chen Qinan is the brother-in-law of Lei Weifang's husband.
In the 2016 Legislative Council election, candidates in the information technology sector included Mo Naiguang and Yang Quansheng, and Mo Naiguang (right) won.
(Profile picture)
4 younger defendants were found guilty after trial
The 4 defendants found guilty after interrogation include: Chen Yongkeng (22 years old, student), Guo Jiajian (22 years old, student), Lin Zeqian (22 years old, student), Wu Jiahao (21 years old, hair salon assistant), they are Lei Jingxian's classmate and group correspondent.
Four people were convicted of fraudulent conduct in the election, including offering and receiving benefits.
The officer ordered the 6 defendants to surrender the proceeds
Judge Lao Jieyi decided today that Li Weimin was imprisoned for 12 months, Yang Yaohong was imprisoned for 8 months, Pan Xiufang was imprisoned for 7 months, Lei Yafu was imprisoned for 7 months, Lei Weifang was imprisoned for 3 months and Lei Jingxian was imprisoned for 3 Months, Chen Yongkeng’s imprisonment for 3 months, Guo Jiajian and Lin Zeqian’s imprisonment for 6 weeks each, Wu Jiahao’s imprisonment for 8 weeks, and Chen Qinan’s imprisonment for 2 months and 24 days.
In addition, Lei Yafu, Lei Weifang, Lei Jingxian, Chen Qinan, Chen Yongkeng and Wu Jiahao will hand over the proceeds of HK$700 to HK$1,000 respectively.
(See the table below for the sentence of each person)
Official reprimands affect the integrity of elections
When sentencing, the judge pointed out that although the votes of the two candidates in the election had a large gap and the 36 votes involved did not have a major impact on the result, the crime affected the integrity of the election, and the fact that some defendants had substantial gains was a factor of increased punishment. Moreover, the case involved a division of labor and crime. The first defendant Li Weimin played a major role and had a heavier criminal responsibility. His two subordinates, Yang Yaohong and Pan Xiufang, acted on orders.
As for Lei Yafu's recruitment of relatives and friends in the case, his sister Lei Weifang and his son Lei Jingxian were also charged.
4 of the defendants were only middle school students at the time of the crime
As for Lei Jingxian's four classmates and friends, namely the defendants Chen Yongkeng, Guo Jiajian, Lin Zeqian and Wu Jiahao, the judge said that the four were middle school students aged 18 to 19 at the time of the crime.
Considering that the case has left them behind and will affect their future development, they believe that they have little chance of committing a crime again, so they are sentenced to a shorter sentence.
Two director-generals study how to vote in functional constituencies
The case refers to the general election of the Legislative Council in September 2016. There were two candidates competing for one of the functional constituencies of the information technology sector that year.
About five months before the election, Li Weimin invited Yang Yaohong to study together how to get the general members to vote in a certain functional constituency.
He found that if he can register as a member of the Hong Kong Branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), he can become an elector in the IT industry.
Multiple defendants have solicited participants in communication groups
Starting in April of the same year, Li Weimin sent a blank voter registration form to Pan Xiufang via mobile phone message.
With the knowledge of Li Weimin, Lei Yafu also invited three younger sisters to join the "IT Industry Association" through his mobile chat group with his family, and claimed that each would receive 1,000 yuan.
Lei Yafu also said that the three must register as voters and vote in the industry as instructed in the general election that year.
Lei Weifang also invited other relatives and friends to participate, including Chen Qinan.
Lei Jingxian, Lei Yafu's son, also invited classmates and friends to participate in the project in two mobile phone groups in mid-April of the same year.
Lei Jingxian also said that he would deduct 150 yuan as a commission from the 1,000 yuan each person received.
Collected data collected by the general members of the collective registration
Lei Yafu, Lei Weifang, and Lei Jingxian finally collected the information of 36 people, and Lei Yafu gave the information to Li Weimin, who then forwarded the information to Pan Xiufang, and registered IEEE membership for everyone.
From April to May 2016, about 127 people registered as full IEEE members with false professional qualifications, academic qualifications, and experience. The relevant persons included Li Weimin, Yang Yaohong, Pan Xiufang, and the aforementioned 36 people with the Lei family.
The IEEE membership application fee for hundreds of people totaled about HK$250,000. Yang Yaohong used a credit card to pay and Li Weimin deposited the money into Yang’s account through ATMs.
Over a hundred registration forms are mistyped with the same English word
The Registration and Electoral Office later discovered that the form of 124 people in the sector also mistakenly wrote “Engineers” in the full IEEE English name as “Enginess”.
However, based on their IEEE membership, all of the more than one hundred people can become voters in the IT department.
Lei Weifang, Lei Jingxian and Chen Qinan received 1,000 yuan from Lei Yafu in May of the same year.
Lei Jingxian also paid 850 yuan each for Chen Yongkeng, Guo Jiajian and Lin Zeqian, while Wu Jiahao received 700 yuan from Lei Jingxian on another occasion in the same month.
The polling day group calls for voting for Yang Quansheng
On the polling day in September of the same year, Li Weimin sent a message to Yang Yaohong, Lei Yafu and Lei Weifang in an "IE group", urging them to vote for Yang Quansheng, a candidate for that sector.
Lei Weifang and Lei Jingxian also made appeals in other groups.
The prosecution said that of the 36 persons related to the Lei family, 19 of them arrived at the polling station that day and received votes including the information technology sector. Yang Quansheng was ultimately defeated in the election.
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Case Number: DCCC 707/2019
IT industry vote case | Involved 700 to 850 yuan to pretend to be a member of the industry to participate in the plan 4 men were convicted of IT industry vote | Register to vote for the designated candidate to receive 1,000 director-general friends to invite friends to participate in the presentation of the IT industry Voting case｜Involving the use of false information to obtain the qualifications of voters 1,000 yuan to lure 4 people to plead guilty [IT kind of vote situation] Review the story of the storm and indirectly expose the lost voter register [IT kind of vote situation] ICAC sued 17 people Mo Naiguang: finally waited this day
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