Members of Plowman Chambers act for the Defendant and the Prosecution in Jury Trial of Cryptocurrency related Offences, with the Defendant Acquitted of all Charges.

In a recent jury trial before the Court of First Instance (HCCC 50/2024), the Defendant faced multiple counts arising from alleged access to the computer systems of Huobi Global Limited （火幣交易平台）and a further count concerning the dealing with 4,999,995 Tether tokens said to represent proceeds of an indictable offence.

The Defendant was charged with six counts of access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent / obtaining access to a computer with a view to dishonest gain, contrary to section 161(1)(c) of the Crimes Ordinance, Cap. 200, allegedly committed between 27 February 2020 and 14 March 2020. He also faced one count of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence, contrary to section 25(1) and (3) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Cap. 455, concerning 4,999,995 Tether tokens.

Following trial before a jury, the Defendant was acquitted of all charges.

A notable feature of the case was that a number of prosecution witnesses refused to testify at trial. The prosecution case therefore relied heavily on documentary evidence, including computer records extracted by a former employee of Huobi (who also did not testify). A central issue was the reliability of that documentary evidence, and whether the prosecution could satisfy the criminal standard of proof on that footing alone, after the Defence’s application to exclude the computer records from evidence was refused by the Court.

The case illustrates the increasing prominence of cryptocurrency-related allegations in Hong Kong criminal litigation, including allegations involving exchange infrastructure, digital token movements, and proceeds of crime provisions. It also underlines the importance of careful scrutiny of the underlying facts, the digital evidence, and the prosecution’s case theory.

Derek Chan SC, leading Mr. Peter Chiu, instructed by Chong & Partners, acted for the Defendant, with Ms. Manalie Chan assisting. Mr. Marco Li acted for the prosecution on fiat.