The female owner of a money changer in Mong Kok claimed to provide "same day payment" or "next day payment" to the designated Mainland account when providing remittance services, but in the end did not complete the relevant remittance service, or only a small part The money was remitted to the Mainland. She was found guilty of violating the "Trade Descriptions Ordinance" in February this year and was sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment today (18th). This was the first case in which a money-changer was successfully prosecuted for unfair business practices.
Yang Yuwen, the commander of the Bad Business Practices Investigation Section of the Customs Copyright and Trademark Investigation Division, said that the customs received a report last year, referring to a money-changing store that has been operating in Mong Kok for 9 years and made "improperly accepting payments" to customers. There were 18 victims in the case, involving HK$3.23 million.
After investigation, Haiwei arrested the 55-year-old female owner of the money-changer in May last year. She was found guilty in February this year and was sentenced to 14 months in prison today. Yang pointed out that some of the more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars involved in the case were returned, but still owed more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars. Customs welcomes the ruling and believes it has a deterrent effect on the industry.
According to the "Commodity Description Ordinance", any merchant applying false product descriptions to services provided to consumers is illegal. Once convicted, the maximum penalty is a fine of 500,000 yuan and imprisonment for 5 years. The customs reminds consumers that when choosing a money-changing store as a remittance service, they need to pay attention to the different exchange rates and regulations in various places. They must pay attention to risks. It is best to inquire before handling. After the remittance, the document should also be retained for future follow-up.
Source: ON.CC
Translation: Google Translate
