A Police Constable has been jailed one year for attempting to swindle $100,000 from a burglary victim's daughter-in-law.

Cheung Ho-pong, 33, was earlier found guilty of one count of attempted fraud at Kowloon City Magistracy.

In 2004, Cheung was assigned to investigate a suspected burglary case in Kowloon City. He told the victim's daughter-in-law and son that he had an informant who might be able to recover the stolen properties for them, and solicited $100,000 from the victim's daughter-in-law as 'bait money' for buying back the stolen properties. After negotiations, the defendant agreed to reduce the sum to $40,000.

Upon the instructions of Independent Commission Against Corruption officers, the victim's daughter-in-law made several telephone calls to the defendant, who said he had been posted to another formation, and reminded her not to disclose to his successor about the use of the informant. His supervisors confirmed that the defendant had not reported to them the deployment of any informant, nor were they aware of the solicitation of 'bait money'.