Hong Kong court jails ex-paralegal for 3 years for pressuring innocent client to plead guilty in cocaine trafficking case
- Judge says Paul Chan, 60, convinced client Ma Ka-kin that taking full responsibility for crime, and minimising role of co-defendant, could secure him more lenient sentence
- Chan had ‘abused his status as a legal practitioner and misled the innocent Mr Ma into pleading guilty’, according to judge Kathie Cheung
An ex-paralegal misled his innocent client into admitting guilt in a HK$1.9 million (US$243,000) cocaine trafficking case in an abuse of his professional status, a Hong Kong judge on Thursday said as she sentenced him to three years in jail.
Paul Chan Keung-lee, 60, on Thursday returned to the District Court for sentencing on a count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
The court last month heard he had tried to get suspect Ma Ka-kin to provide false testimony to customs officers in charge of a 2016 case involving 1.19kg (42 ounces) of cocaine.
Judge Kathie Cheung Kit-yee said Chan, despite being taken on by Ma’s father, had prioritised the interests of a co-defendant, who had reportedly played a more prominent role in the crime.
“The defendant abused his status as a legal practitioner and misled the innocent Mr Ma into pleading guilty ... His offence has seriously undermined the public’s confidence in the judicial system and the administration of justice,” she said.
Ma, a former noodle shop worker, had faced a joint charge of trafficking a dangerous drug alongside colleague Hung Chi-him after allowing him to use his address for the delivery of a parcel from Brazil in October 2016. The package was later found to contain cocaine, while Ma maintained he had no knowledge of the contents.
Prosecutors said Chan had tried to convince the then 20-year-old Ma to retract his incriminating statements against Hung and floated the idea he might receive a lighter sentence if he lied about the extent of his colleague’s involvement and took all the blame himself.