ENG-2009 — Page 376

304 Public Order

The number of reported cases of serious fraud, counterfeit currency, and forgery and technology crimes remained stable. Offences perpetrated by street deception. gangs continued to fall with one large syndicate neutralised by the Police during the

year.

Lottery frauds, particularly those targeting overseas Chinese, decreased. The Police neutralised nine fraud syndicates in 2009, with 23 persons arrested for lottery scams involving some $9.6 million. In one case, 10 defendants including Taiwanese, Malaysian and Hong Kong residents, were convicted and received sentences ranging from 24 months to 66 months.

During the year, the bureau seized 1 717 counterfeit Hong Kong banknotes. This represents a decrease of 45.6 per cent compared with 2008 which was a record low in the past decade. Owing to the bureau's successful intelligence partnerships with the Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies, offences of counterfeit currencies were contained at a low level.

As the leading enforcement agency the bureau continues to excel in protecting against and combating commercial crimes. One successful prosecution involved a case of insider dealing and resulted in the arrest of a man who was found to have purchased shares with a value of $86 million between February 15 and April 30, 2007 whilst having insider knowledge. The defendant was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by the District Court in September.

Technology Crime

The Police received a total of 1 506 reports of technology crimes during 2009. The associated total monetary loss was about $45.1 million.

In collaboration with the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Co-ordination Centre and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the Police Force has run an annual 'Clean PC Day' campaign since 2005 to promote information and communication technology security and 'cyber ethics'.

On enforcement side, the Police Force established the Technology Crime Steering Group for strategic planning as well as the setting of objectives. Various specialised teams under the Technology Crime Division of the bureau are responsible for implementing counter-measures against advanced cyber crime threats and providing computer forensic services.

The Technology Crime Division maintained a round-the-clock point of contact during the EAG, similar to the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events in order to strength information exchange and ensure the security of major information systems in Hong Kong throughout the period.

Narcotics

Tackling youth drug abuse was a priority of the Police Force which took further steps to enhance its role in preventive education and publicity.

The majority of arrests were in respect of ketamine. A rising trend in the number of manufacturing cases involving the conversion of cocaine powder into the