Hong Kong Customs took enforcement action to combat the sale of counterfeit jewellery on June 22 at a fair held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

     Customs earlier received information alleging the display of counterfeit jewellery for order at a booth at a jewellery fair held at the HKCEC.

     After investigation, Customs officers conducted a test-buy operation on June 22 and successfully ordered 2 000 pieces of suspected counterfeit jewellery as well as seized nine counterfeit jewellery samples at a booth with an estimated market value of about $40,000 in total. A 36-year-old man in charge was arrested.

     The man was convicted of offering to supply goods with false trade description and possession of goods with a forged trademark for the purpose of trade or business, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO), and sentenced to a fine of $2,000 and two months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts on June 23.

     Under the TDO, any person who sells or possesses for sale any goods with a forged trademark commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected infringing activities to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

     Hong Kong Customs has mounted a special operation at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal to step up enforcement action against drug trafficking. The operation started in May and until this morning (June 25), a total of eight cases had been detected involving the seizure of about 230 grams of suspected dangerous drugs, and apparatus fit for the inhalation of dangerous drugs, with an estimated market value of about $232,000.

     The seized suspected dangerous drugs, including cocaine and a small quantity of ketamine, were found concealed inside the clothes or personal belongings of the arrested persons. Most of the drugs were packed in small packages ready for further distribution. A total of eight men aged between 17 and 39 were arrested. The cases have been duly followed up.

     The operation is ongoing.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is life imprisonment and a fine of $5 million.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

     Hong Kong Customs will step up enforcement at all control points during the summer holidays to combat cross-boundary trafficking activities of dangerous drugs as well as other prohibited/controlled items. Customs appeals to members of the public, especially young people, not to be manipulated by criminals into defying the law.

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Mr Howard Lee, together with Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr Chen Dong, and the Vice Mayor of the People's Government of Shenzhen Municipality, Mr Liu Qingsheng, took part in the launching ceremony of the first Shenzhen Fintech Summer Internship Programme (the Programme) designed for students from Hong Kong tertiary education institutions today (June 25) .
 
     The Programme is a joint initiative based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year between the HKMA and the Office of Financial Development Service, the People's Government of Shenzhen Municipality (OFDS) with a view to nurturing talent for fintech. It is also one of the four key programmes of the Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme 2.0 launched by the HKMA. The Programme is organised by the Fin Society, sponsored by the HKMA and supported by the OFDS. It aims at raising the competence of fintect talents in Hong Kong in order to meet the increasing demand from the industry. Under the Programme, 50 students from tertiary educational institutions in Hong Kong will be assigned to eight leading fintech or techfin firms on 6-week internships to experience the fintech ecosystem in Shenzhen.
 
     Mr Lee said, "To build a first-class international fintech centre for Hong Kong and Shenzhen, we must enhance soft power by expanding the fintech talent pool in a sustainable manner in order to invest on this important resource. Hong Kong and Shenzhen have their own edges on fintech development. Hong Kong has a large number of financial elites while Shenzhen has talents for technology and innovation. Strengthening the talent development in the two places can create synergy and mutual benefit, and attract talents from all over the country and the world to establish themselves in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area."

    

     Centuryan Services Limited was fined $50,000 at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (June 25) for violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.
 
     The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on September 21, 2017, in Hung Hom. While a worker was carrying out pest control work on the roof of a residential building, he fell to death from the unprotected roof edge to the podium floor.

     Two directors of Bexpress Internet Logistics (Hong Kong) Limited were prosecuted by the Labour Department (LD) for failing to pay employees' wages and defaulting on the sums awarded by the Labour Tribunal (LT) as required by the Employment Ordinance (EO). The two directors pleaded guilty at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts earlier and both were ordered to pay a sum of about $134,000 via the court to the four employees. The directors were each sentenced to 80 hours' community service today (June 25).

     The company failed to pay two employees wages within seven days after the termination of employment. The company also failed to pay four employees (including the above-mentioned two employees) the awarded sum of about $134,000 in total within 14 days after the date set out by the terms of the LT award in accordance with the EO. The directors concerned were convicted for their consent, connivance or neglect in the above offences.

     "The ruling helps disseminate a strong message to all employers and responsible officers of companies that they have to pay wages to employees within the time limit stipulated in the EO and the awarded sums according to the terms of the awards of LT or Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board. The LD will not tolerate these offences and will continue to make dedicated efforts in enforcing the EO and safeguarding employees' statutory rights," a spokesman for LD said.