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Conspiracy to defraud
Teddy was a clerk employed by a solicitor firm and much trusted by his employer. The firm’s major source of income was property conveyancing and Teddy was responsible for handling all the paper work of the property deals. Teddy would get married soon but his fiancée wanted a grand wedding ceremony which put Teddy under a lot of financial pressure.
One day, Teddy had dinner with his friend Barry who worked in a bank. Teddy talked to Barry about his financial worries. Barry responded that perhaps they could work out something together for their benefits. Barry suggested that he would submit some forged mortgage loan applications to his bank with the support of fake conveyancing documents with inflated property values prepared by Teddy. Barry ensured Teddy that no questions would be asked by the bank. After that, they could equally share the approved loans. Teddy decided to take the risk and agreed to Barry’s plan.
Case Analysis
It would be an offence of Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) if Teddy, as an employee of the law firm, without the approval of his employer, accepted the advantage (equal share of the mortgage loans) offered by Barry for assisting Barry to deceive the bank by preparing fake conveyancing documents. Barry might also violate the POBO for offering bribes.
Moreover, Barry might also violate Section 9(3) of POBO for using false documents to deceive his principal (the bank) and Section 123 of the Banking Ordinance. Both Barry and Terry might be liable for fraud and conspiracy to defraud.