TNAG-0490-FCO40-555-Allegations-of-bribery-and-corruption-in-Hong-Kong-police-an-1974 — Page 102

PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL

for information of expatriate Government Officials And police officers only)

Pun Ting Chau,

147 Woo Sung St. 2nd. Fl. Front Portion, Yaumati. Kowloon.

Mr J. J. E. Morrin

Director of Anti-Corruption

Room 212 Mercantile Bank Bldg.

9 Ice House St.

Hong Kong.

Dear Sir,

6th Oct. 1973

BY REGISTERED POST

Re: Your Ref. AC/MRB/891/73

Thank you for your reply dated 1st Oct. 1973.

I wish to report to you that up to the time of writing of this letter, there have been seven (7) unsuccessful attempts by a total of nine(9) mysterious persons, including males and females, presumably acting for the persons under investigation and triad society elements, to molest and intimidate me and on one particular day they did so twice.

In view of the seriousness of the situation and the length of time involved in invest- igating the cases, it is understandable and justifiable for me to ask for the private telephone numbers of more than one expatriate police officers as a precautionery measure in case

cannot be contacted in the event of an emer-

gency.

It should be understood that the swindle rackets and protection ring under investigation are much more organized and powerful than the one squeezing money out of 'Pak Pai' car operators in Kowloon and recently tacked by Anti-Corruption officers; they have had the backing of Chinese police detective chiefs and triad society elements on both sides of the harbour; they have been operating here in the Colony for 1-2 decades after World War 11; they can cause anyone to be assaulted, kidnapped or even murderred; they can arrange by bribery to have cases "fixed up" in their favour after victims have made formal complaints about their swindles and pther illegal activities to the police.

Inasmuch as the illegal activities of the swindle rackets and protection ring under investigation are against public interest, it will not be sufficient for me to make the information available tol

alone; the same must be brought

to the attention of leaders in the Administration and Members of Executive and Legislative Councils so that the matter will be dealt with in a fair and just manner and that scandals on the part of certain Chinese police detectives will not be covered up. Though I did a great deal to gather information for the authorities and spark off the current investiga- tions, the matter is neither a personal affair nor isolated incident; it has much wider social implications.

Leaders in our Government and society should have an awareness that certain public servants who have been employed by the Crown at the expense of taxpayers to enforce Crown laws are knowingly and intentionally breaking the laws themselves, thus accelerating increases in crime rates; that they are conspiring with criminals and triad society elements in robbing innocent victims of their wealth and hard-earned savings in a non-violent manner and in molesting and intimidating them; that they handle stolen property knowing that the moneys have changed hands as a result of fraud; that they are dormant or sleeping partners of the swindle rackets under "protection"; that they are corruptly distorting facts of criminal cases and perverting the course of justice by means of their places of authority. Corruption in public life undermines the fibers of our Government and eats into our society like cancer.

Therefore, the work of officers of your Branch should go beyond making inquiries and should take the form of vigorous and thorough investigations backed up by searches, use of electronic devices and other drastic actions, if necessary.

On 14th June 1973, Mr Lam, top administrator of the protection ring behind the swindle rackets in Hong Kong, told me that two of the criminals involved in the Yuen Foong Lung racket viz. La Ming() and Chiang Chiu Yuan) are international swindlers and go overseas now and then to carry out their fraudulent activities; that the former have been operating as a "professional" for more than 10 years whereas the latter's criminal activities records date back to times as far as before World War 11; that some

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