HONG KONG, June 2(Xinhuanet)-- Three men, aged between 32 and 40,were sentenced to five to eight years' imprisonment at the Court of First Instance on Thursday for counterfeit note offenses.

The court heard that after extensive investigations, officers of Police Commercial Crime Bureau raided a residential unit in Yuen Long on Jan. 9, 2004, according to a government press releaseon Thursday.

The trio were arrested after 3,450 pieces of finished and semi-finished counterfeit 500-HK-dollar(64 US dollars) banknotes and a large quantity of counterfeiting paraphernalia were seized in the premises.

Investigations revealed that the counterfeit banknotes were directly produced by two inkjet printers and they could be distinguished when compared with genuine banknotes.

The trio were found guilty at the Court of First Instance on May 6, 2005 and the sentence was meted out on Thursday.

Among the arrested persons, a 40-year-old man was charged with counterfeiting banknotes with intent, custody of counterfeit banknotes with intent, custody of counterfeiting implements with intent and possession of a dangerous drug. The other two men, bothaged 32, were charged with counterfeiting banknotes with intent and custody of counterfeit banknotes with intent.

The 40-year-old man and one of the 32-year-old men pleaded guilty to their charges and were sentenced to six years' and five years' imprisonment respectively. The other 32-year-old man pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.Enditem