They were some of the hottest tickets in town and Tam Pou-kei, a 30-year-old housewife, was willing to break the law to get them.
In pursuit of passes to the farewell show of stand-up comedian Dayo Wong, Tam used falsified bank statements to apply for a credit card from DBS bank.
But, at court yesterday, a judge ruled fraud is no laughing matter.
Tam yesterday received 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to using a false instrument at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts yesterday, Headline Daily reports.
The court heard the defendant applied for the card in March, submitting the application along with two Hang Seng Bank bank statements.
On closer inspection, however, staff found discrepancies in the documents. Both statements had the same date but one indicated a balance of HK$670,000 (US$85,500), while the other showed the amount in the account as HK$250,000 (US$31,900).
Police were called and Tam admitted amending one of the statements to meet the minimum bank balance requirements for the credit card application.
She did this, she said, because she wanted to use the card to buy two tickets for Dayo Wong’s farewell standup tour.
On.cc reports that in a mitigating statement, the defense said Tam lives in a rented apartment in Taikoo Shing with her 34-year-old husband, a surveyor, and their two daughters aged 5 and 8.
The family were not in financial difficulties. Tam’s husband earns a monthly income of HK$50,000 (US$6,380).
The defense said Tam committed the offense out of “greed and stupidity”, regretted her actions and was willing to be put on probation.
The court heard that Tam initially applied for the credit card using a bank statement from a joint account with her husband, but that application was rejected.
Wong’s farewell tour was one of the hottest tickets in the city, and was the target of ticket scalpers this year.
Tickets for the show were priced between HK$280 to HK$880 (US$36 to US$112), but were sold out and re-appeared on second-party sites for several times the price.
The incident prompted the comedian to urge fans not to buy scalped tickets and to announce additional dates for the stand-up tour.
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