September 11 'fraudster' jailed

A New York judge has locked up a "despicable" fraudster who faked his own death in the September 11 attacks to avoid a relatively minor passport charge.

Steven Chin Leung, 28, was jailed for four years. Judge Denny Chin told him he would only have been placed on probation if convicted of the passport fraud charge.

But it was Leung’s "complete selfishness" that led him to pose as two fictitious brothers - "William" and "Jeffrey" Leung - while trying to get a death certificate issued, the judge said.

"If Steven Chin Leung had simply faced the music here, he would have got probation," Judge Chin said after sending the Hong Kong immigrant to prison.

Prosecutor Neil Barofsky had argued that Leung deserved a harsh sentence for his "extraordinary efforts to take advantage of a national tragedy".

"He did take advantage of 9/11," he said. "He did so in a callous, calculated manner."

Leung admitted making a "terrible mistake in my life," adding that he was "very sorry for what I did".

Leung was on bail for the passport charge when he tried to fake his death by posing as one of his "brothers" and claiming he had been working at the World Trade Centre as an independent contractor.