A prison guard was arrested on Tuesday for assisting a male suspect in pre- trial detention for a fraud case last year by delivering a letter to the suspect’s wife, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Mark Sou Sio Keong said during yesterday’s regular press conference.
The woman was also arrested on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old male prison guard is surnamed Kuok. The 49-year-old female suspect is a businesswoman surnamed Vong.
According to Sou, the Judiciary Police had arrested a man surnamed Leong on September 17 last year for allegedly defrauding a woman out of 2.5 million patacas. Leong falsely claimed that with the money he could ensure that the court give the woman’s husband a lenient sentence for the serious crimes he had committed.
According to Sou, the Judiciary Police discovered that while Leong was in custody awaiting trial, his wife –Vong – had met a man on October 13 last year outside a residential building in Taipa, where the man handed Vong a letter. Afterwards, the Judiciary Police discovered that the man is a prison guard – Kuok – who had also contacted another man by telephone.
According to Sou, the Judiciary Police told Kuok and Vong to report to a police station on Tuesday. Under questioning, Kuok confessed that he knew that Leong was involved in big business and had a wide network of contacts, so he hoped that Leong would “take care of him” in the future.
On October 13 last year, Kuok took the initiative to chat with Leong while on duty in the prison, and said that he could provide assistance. On the same day, he helped Leong deliver a letter to his wife, and also assisted him in contacting another man, but Kuok denied that Leong had paid him for offering his assistance.
Sou said Vong denied that she had ever met with Kuok or received any letters from him. As for the man who Kuok had called, he told the police that he had indeed received a call from a man who claimed to be a prison guard, but he had refused to meet him. Sou did not reveal the identity of that man.
The police said that they would follow up and investigate how Leong had been able to obtain paper for writing the letter while he was in prison.
Kuok and Vong were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Tuesday. Kuok faces an abuse of power charge while Vong faces a personal favouritism charge, according to Sou.
Meanwhile, the Correctional Service Bureau (DSC) said in statement yesterday that the bureau was highly concerned about the case and deeply regretted the prison guard’s suspected involvement in the case.
The statement pointed out that an internal disciplinary investigation procedure has also been launched so that the perpetrator will be held disciplinarily accountable in accordance with the law. Any staff member who breaches the law or regulations faces the full weight of the law, the statement said.
