A 35-year-old Austrian man has been jailed three years for deception, by the District Court.

He was sentenced today after being convicted on March 1 of two counts of procuring the making of an entry in a bank record by deception.

The court heard he had invited his friend, a 43-year-old British man, to set up an investment company in Hong Kong with him in June 2002 to conduct investment business in Austria through the acquisition of a company there.

They agreed to start their business with a trading fund of US$3 million, provided by the victim as a shareholder loan. The defendant said an Austrian authority would guarantee to give them loans for up to 200% of their investment made in the country.

To persuade the victim to invest, the defendant showed him a false document purportedly issued by the Austrian authority and another false document which was a letter advising him on the details of how to make a deposit.

The victim transferred US$1.5 million and US$1.4 million on June 10 and July 9, 2002 respectively into their company's bank account. The defendant then transferred the sum out of the account on six occasions between the two dates without informing the victim, who then contacted Police.

The defendant was arrested on January 25 last year and charged.