A 24-year-old man has been jailed 16 months for obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception in a mortgage fraud case.

The District Court heard that in September 2002, he applied for a $926,820 mortgage for a $1 million Tai Po Centre flat. To support the application, he submitted a letter of employment and four Mandatory Provident Fund records to the bank, showing he had been employed as a programmer from September 2001 with a monthly salary of $25,900.

Police found the MPF records were false, as the defendant never registered in the scheme.

On October 31, 2002, the mortgage was drawn down but the defendant defaulted to meet the mortgage repayments after making nine monthly instalments. The property was repossessed and sold in May last year. The bank's financial loss was $150,648.

On June 16 last year, the defendant was arrested by Police at his Ap Lei Chau home and charged with obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception. He admitted to the charge.