A 68-year-old man who posed as a monk to beg for alms has pleaded guilty to vagrancy and fined HK$800 (US$103).
A magistrate’s court in Tsuen Wan said Wang Zhuyun could serve three days in prison in lieu of the fine, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reports.
He was arrested on Sunday after a woman spotted him begging for alms on a footbridge in Tsuen Wan.
The woman gave Wang a HK$10 note and filmed him on her smartphone, according to Headline Daily.
Wang later told police that the money was for his own consumption.
In mitigation, Wang told the judge he arrived in Hong Kong from Hubei province on a leisure trip but admitted he begged for money in mainland China.
Begging in public places is illegal in Hong Kong. Offenders are liable to a fine of HK$500 and imprisonment.
Wang was jailed two days for the same offence in 2014.
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