Lau Wai-shun, a Hong Kong man who had been convicted of fraud in Macao, thought his prayers had been answered when a judge handed down a suspended jail term last Thursday.

However, his pleasure fizzled about 10 minutes later, when the judge realized he had mixed up Lau's files with those of another fraud case. Apparently they had the same serial number, but different years. The 25-year-old had actually been sentenced to 39 months in prison for cheating people out of a cellphone and an expensive watch in two separate cases.

(Macao Daily)