in the Hong Kong Basic Law that had been implemented after the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Grave concerns were expressed by the Bar Association that the Mainland had no jurisdiction over crimes committed in the territory by Hong Kong residents as a matter of Mainland law; the Hong Kong public were concerned that if they commit a crime in Hong Kong, they might have to stand trial in the mainland if arrested there. However, the Chinese Government argued that though the crimes were carried out in Hong Kong, they had been planned in the mainland, so the PRC was entitled to exercise jurisdiction over the case. Under the Chinese Criminal Code, a Chinese national can be tried by a mainland court for crimes committed outside China if the offence warrants imprisonment of three years or more. Officials believed that although a "meagre part" of Cheung's case involved the mainland, it was right he be tried there. Grenville Cross, Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong, said in a letter that the mainland judiciary could not return Hong Kong residents to Hong Kong before they had been tried for crimes allegedly committed on the mainland. Cheung's lawyer suggested there probably would have been insufficient evidence to convict his client in Hong Kong without victims' statements. The failure of the victims to report the case to the Hong Kong Police had left them bereft of evidence to request the repatriation of Cheung. Hong Kong Secretary for Security Regina Ip regretted that the tycoons had reported the abductions to the PRC and not to the Hong Kong authorities. She said there was no formal cross-border agreement on the transfer of offenders, but said that it would not be unprecedented to do so. Legal experts suggested that Hong Kong courts would not be able to convict in the absence of witness or victims' testimonies or other evidence, even with a full confession, as confessions can be withdrawn. There were some who maintained that the Li and Kwok families could get their revenge on Cheung since a trial in the mainland could guarantee the death penalty, whereas capital punishment was not in force in Hong Kong. Cultural influences Fictionalized accounts of Cheung Chi Keung's kidnapping of the wealthy have been made into movies: Operation Billionaires (, 1998) portrayed by Simon Yam. Big Spender (, 1999) portrayed by