China Scene: South
Salesman jailed for dodgy insurance deals
An insurance agency director has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for swindling some HK$10 million ($1.3 million) of commissions from New York Life.
Using personal data gathered from a promotional campaign, the defendant, surnamed Ho, succeeded in applying for 781 insurance policies with New York Life. He spent HK$8 million of his own pocket to pay for the first year's premiums, but as a result, was paid HK$10 million in commission.
New York Life discovered the scam when they noticed that 99 percent of the insurance policies brokered by Ho were later terminated.
(Oriental Daily)
Woman sells flat twice to feed gambling addiction
A Macao woman has been arrested for selling the same flat twice to support her gambling habit.
In March, the 24-year-old was given 550,000 patacas ($68,000) by a friend who had agreed to buy the flat for 650,000 patacas. But barely a month later, the woman had lost all the money in casinos.
As the housing transfer procedure on the original deal had not been finalized, the woman last month decided to sell the flat again, to another buyer, and this time for 600,000 patacas.
By the time her scam was discovered and she was arrested, she was once again penniless.
(Macao Daily)
Tsinghua, Beida fall short of Hong Kong goals
Both Tsinghua University and Peking University (Beida) met only half of their recruiting quotas for elite students from Hong Kong this year.
The mainland's top universities planned to enroll about 50 Hong Kong students each. But Tsinghua ended up recruiting 14, and Beida 20. In comparison, 43 local students applied to Beida when it staged its first recruitment drive in Hong Kong in 2003.
Tsinghua's recruitment director said Hong Kong students often find the mathematics and science courses at mainland universities too advanced. Meanwhile, Hong Kong students seeking career opportunities on the mainland said employers are more interested in their global perspective and foreign language capabilities, which make an overseas college education more sensible.
(Wen Wei Po)
Disgruntled autistic man warned over arson threat
A 25-year-old young man suffering from autism has been sentenced to 18 months' probation for threatening to set fire to a radio station.
The Hong Kong man, surnamed Leong, was part of a fan club organized by a local radio station. He reportedly became upset when he learned that the club had failed to inform him about an activity.
Dissatisfied with the way a manager at the radio station handled his complaint, he sent her an email on November 13 demanding that the station refund the HK$100 ($13) membership fee. He said he would burn down the station if it failed to do so. His defense lawyer said Leong had difficulty communicating with people and had made the threat in a moment of stress.
(Ming Pao)
Women held for stripping, photographing rival
Three Macao women have been arrested for stripping and taking photos of another woman.
The attack was led by a 25-year-old woman surnamed Fung who was jealous of an ex-boyfriend. Accompanied by two female friends, Fung entered her ex-boyfriend's flat with a spare key on May 12. The gang stripped his live-in girlfriend naked, took photos of her and beat her.
Police arrested them on Wednesday.
(Macao Daily)
(China Daily 06/19/2007 page6)
