A former immigration officer of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison Thursday for an illicit passport trade.

Charged by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Lam Yuk-fai, 48, pleaded guilty at the Court of First Instance to one count of conspiracy to transfer a travel document to another without reasonable excuse.

The charge stated that Lam had conspired with a former senior inspector of the Customs and Excise Department to transfer diplomatic passports of the government of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe to a person known to him as Arkadiy, without reasonable excuse.

Both Lam and the officer were aware that the would-be passport holders might make use of the advantage of the diplomatic passports to carry out criminal activities, the court heard.

In sentencing, the judge said the starting point of 10 years meted out by the trial judge in 2001 was appropriate, adding that he had reduced the jail term to six years and eight months after taking into account the defendant's guilty plea.

The offense took place between November 1, 1998 and March 3, 1999.

Lam was found guilty by a jury on the same charge in 2001, and was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by the trial judge. The Court of Appeal dismissed Lam's application for appeal in 2002.

Lam subsequently sought leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), which allowed his appeal in April this year and ordered a re-trial.

Arkadiy was a United States Customs's undercover agent assisting the ICAC in the investigation, which arose from a corruption complaint.

Source: Xinhua