A Taiwanese businessman has been jailed 18 months by the District Court for swindling $200,000 from a Mainlander on the pretext of using the money to bribe law enforcement officers to release him from custody.

Hsu Jung-kuang, 52, today pleaded guilty to five counts of procuring the making of an entry in a record of a bank by deception.

Hsu resided with his wife and two daughters in Guangzhou where he used to operate metallic product factories. He came to know a woman about six years ago and they became good friends. Last April he called her, lying that he had been arrested and detained at Hong Kong International Airport, and needed money to be released.