Police arrest two in illegal ride-hailing crackdown
Police arrested two people during an undercover operation targeting illegal ride-hailing services. Photo: RTHK
Undercover police officers on Tuesday arrested two people suspected of providing illegal ride-hailing services.
The pair, aged 35 and 48, were arrested on suspicion of illegally carrying passengers for hire and not having third party liability insurance.
Two vehicles were seized in the operation, which saw officers posing as customers.
"According to the Road Traffic Ordinance, no person shall use a car to carry passengers for hire unless a hire car permit is issued," noted inspector Ho Kin-pong, adding that the offence carries a maximum punishment of HK$10,000 or a six-month prison term for a first conviction.
Ho urged people to use legal means of transport.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
4 hours ago
- HKFP
Man found guilty of desecrating Chinese, Hong Kong flags seeks to overturn conviction at city's apex court
A Hong Kong man with autism who was found guilty of desecrating flags on National Day three years ago has sought to overturn his conviction at the city's top court. Wong Chun-lok, who was 19 at the time, was said to have publicly and intentionally desecrated a national flag and four Hong Kong flags on October 1, 2022, in Sham Shui Po by bending the flagpoles. The defendant denied the charges and said he had been triggered by the bright colours of the flags, InMedia reported. He was sentenced to a rehabilitation centre in June 2023, after a magistrates' court ruled that he was guilty, saying he 'chose' to desecrate the flags and that it was a 'serious' offence. Rehabilitation centres are for young offenders between the ages of 14 and 20 who have not previously been sentenced to institutions, including prisons, training centres, or detention centres. The maximum sentence is nine months. Wong is now attempting to appeal his conviction at the Court of Final Appeal (CFA). According to the CFA's website, Wong has submitted an application to challenge the verdict, but no date for the hearing has yet been scheduled. Previous appeal attempt In March, Wong tried to challenge his conviction at the High Court, where his legal representative argued that the trial magistrate had not properly considered Wong's 'special conditions' and how they might have affected his intention to commit the offence. His representative also said Wong's previous lawyer had not requested the court to accommodate Wong's needs, such as asking him to give testimony at a slower pace, given his language level was estimated to be only at a primary four level. High Court Judge Frankie Yiu shot down the legal challenge. The judge said that the magistrate took into account Wong's mental disorder but did not accept his testimony because Wong said in court that he was targeting the flagpoles, yet in his earlier statements before the trial, he said he wanted to tear apart the flags. 'There is nothing wrong with the magistrate refusing to accept his evidence because [the defendant] gave completely different explanations,' Yiu wrote in Chinese, explaining his reasons for dismissing the appeal. Hong Kong amended the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance in September 2021, which outlaws the desecration of the Chinese national flag and national emblem on the internet. The offence carries a maximum penalty of a HK$50,000 fine and three years behind bars.
HKFP
20 hours ago
- HKFP
Fans of K-pop star G-Dragon scammed out of HK$610k in fake tickets for Hong Kong concerts
Fans of South Korean pop star Kwon Ji-yong, also known as G-Dragon, were scammed out of more than HK$610,000 worth of fake tickets to his sold-out Hong Kong concerts, police said. Since mid-July, police have received over 200 reports of suspected ticket scams, with nearly 30 cases linked to G-Dragon's world tour stop in the city this week, according to a Facebook post by CyberDefender, a unit under the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau. While police did not disclose the total number of victims, the force said one woman paid HK$8,000 for two scalped tickets – originally priced at HK$2,399 each. The seller later demanded more money to 'secure the tickets,' and the woman eventually paid more than HK$180,000 in three transactions. The seller then became unreachable. 'As a concert approaches, social media will inevitably be flooded with suspicious ticket posts – including scalped tickets, fake tickets or no tickets at all,' the Facebook post in Chinese warned. 'Before making any payment, check the seller's background. Search their phone number, bank account number, and page name, and look out for negative reviews.' Local media reported that the police handled more than 800 ticket scam cases last month, involving concert tickets, theme park tickets, flight tickets, various ball game tickets and tickets for meet and greet with celebrities. The total loss amounted to more than HK$4 million. In June, eight people were arrested for allegedly selling high-quality counterfeit tickets to concerts of Cantopop singer Nicholas Tse, Taiwanese singer Jay Chou, and four other artists. The eight suspects were part of a cross-border syndicate involved in at least 40 suspected scams, according to local media. The total loss stood at around HK$650,000. Police said at the time that the syndicate had a clear division of labour, with the mastermind using different social media platforms to post advertisements or photos of tickets with average resolution. They would also cover part of the ticket's front to make it difficult for the public to verify its authenticity. Printing factories were used to mass-produce the fake tickets, while the syndicate would recruit people to meet the buyers in person to complete the transactions. The scammers would also present forged QR codes and doctored screenshots of fake official purchase records to win the trust of buyers.
HKFP
a day ago
- HKFP
Hong Kong cancels passports of 12 activists wanted under nat. sec law after involvement with overseas group
The Hong Kong government has cancelled the passports of 12 'absconders' under the Beijing-imposed national security law, just over a week after the authorities issued a round of warrants and bounties for their arrests. The 12 were among 19 people for whom national security police issued arrest warrants last month for organising or participating in the 'Hong Kong Parliament.' The group held unofficial polls outside the city, which sought to form a shadow legislature to 'pursue the ideal of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.' The group vowed to 'uphold the core value of popular sovereignty,' as well as 'oppose one-party rule and tyranny.' According to a government statement released on Monday, the 12 wanted individuals whose passports have been cancelled are: Victor Ho, Chan Lai-chun, Tsang Wai-fan, Chin Po-fun, Paul Ha, Hau Chung-yu, Ho Wing-yau, Keung Ka-wai, Tony Lam, Agnes Ng, Wong Chun-wah, and Wong Sau-wo. Those 12 activists, along with Feng Chongyi, Sasha Gong, Ng Man-yan, and Zhang Xinyan, have been charged with subversion for their involvement in the unofficial shadow legislature. The national security authorities also issued orders prohibiting the 16 individuals from dealing with funds in Hong Kong, and banning activities connected to immovable property and joint ventures or partnerships linked to the activists. The authorities also served an order to have Keung and Victor Ho removed as company directors temporarily. The 16 activists were named alongside three other activists – Elmer Yuen, Johnny Fok, and Tony Choi – when the authorities announced that 19 people were wanted for organising or participating in the overseas parliament. Victor Ho, along with Yuen, Fok, and Choi, was already wanted by Hong Kong authorities before last month's announcement. The four have larger bounties worth HK$1 million on their heads. Yuen's passport was cancelled by the authorities in December, along with those of six other overseas activists. Funding prohibited 'These lawless wanted criminals are hiding in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, Thailand, China's Taiwan region, etc, and continue to blatantly engage in activities that endanger national security,' a government spokesperson said on Monday. Providing funds, assets, or economic resources available to the wanted individuals, or dealing with funds owned or controlled by them, including through online platforms or dedicated pages, constitutes an offence punishable by up to seven years in prison. Subversion is one of the offences under Beijing's national security legislation in Hong Kong, which was inserted directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020, following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. The law also criminalises secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
