Hong Kong - A champion Australian jockey was Tuesday flying
from Hong Kong to Sydney to serve out the remainder of a 30-month
jail term for selling racing tips.
Former Melbourne Cup winner Chris Munce, 37, one of Australia's
best known jockeys, was jailed in Hong Kong in March after being
charged with accepting bribes in return for tips on the outcome of
races.
After serving six months in a Hong Kong prison, he was taken to
the territory's Chek Lap Kok airport late Monday ready for a flight
to Sydney Tuesday morning.
Munce, who raced for one season in Hong Kong, will serve out his
sentence at Silverwater jail in Sydney under a prisoner exchange
agreement that exists between the former British colony and
Australia.
Munce, winner of the 1998 Melbourne Cup, was found to have
received tens of thousands of US dollars in winnings in return for
insider tips on races between December 2005 and July 2006.
When he was arrested with a businessman in a hotel in Hong Kong in
July last year, he was found to be carrying around 32,000 US dollars
and a piece of paper bearing some numbers and letters.
The jockey, who had just completed a contract in Hong Kong and was
due to return to Sydney that month, claimed the money was a farewell
gift from the businessman.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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