Four-and-a-half years for Mainland company executive embezzling $3.4m company funds
2000-7-6
An executive of a Mainland-funded textile company in Hong Kong was sentenced to four-and-a-half-years' imprisonment at District Court today (Thursday) for pocketing $3.42 million company funds.
Cheng Lap-sun, 33, employed by Asian Renown Textile Company Limited (Asian Renown), was earlier found guilty on nine counts of stealing $3,420,000 in total from Asian Renown between February 1998 and February 1999.
In sentencing, Judge Gerald Muttrie said the offences committed by the defendant was serious and constituted a breach of trust.
An ICAC spokesman noted that the case demonstrated the effective co-operation between the Commission and the Guangdong Provincial People's Procuratorate (GDPP) under the Mutual Assistance Scheme.
“The GDPP had rendered valuable assistance to the Commission in securing three Mainland witnesses, including the company's shareholders and a supplier, to testify in Hong Kong for this case,” the spokesman said.
The court heard that the defendant was employed by Asian Renown as a part-time accountant. Since January 1998, he took up the job as a full-time assistant to the company's director.
In February and December 1998, the defendant found a total of nine company cheques pre-signed by the shareholders of Asian Renown, who were the sole signatories for the company account. The payee, date and amount, however, had been left blank on the cheq ues.
Between February 1998 and February 1999, the defendant filled in the amount on the blank cheques and deposited $3,420,000 in total into his personal account.
He then made false entries in the company accounts by falsely representing that one of the cheques was paid to a creditor of Asian Renown.
A full audit of the company books was subsequently commissioned and copies of some of the stolen cheques were collected from the cheque issuing bank.
The prosecution was today represented by Selwyn So on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Lawrence Hong.
Cheng Lap-sun, 33, employed by Asian Renown Textile Company Limited (Asian Renown), was earlier found guilty on nine counts of stealing $3,420,000 in total from Asian Renown between February 1998 and February 1999.
In sentencing, Judge Gerald Muttrie said the offences committed by the defendant was serious and constituted a breach of trust.
An ICAC spokesman noted that the case demonstrated the effective co-operation between the Commission and the Guangdong Provincial People's Procuratorate (GDPP) under the Mutual Assistance Scheme.
“The GDPP had rendered valuable assistance to the Commission in securing three Mainland witnesses, including the company's shareholders and a supplier, to testify in Hong Kong for this case,” the spokesman said.
The court heard that the defendant was employed by Asian Renown as a part-time accountant. Since January 1998, he took up the job as a full-time assistant to the company's director.
In February and December 1998, the defendant found a total of nine company cheques pre-signed by the shareholders of Asian Renown, who were the sole signatories for the company account. The payee, date and amount, however, had been left blank on the cheq ues.
Between February 1998 and February 1999, the defendant filled in the amount on the blank cheques and deposited $3,420,000 in total into his personal account.
He then made false entries in the company accounts by falsely representing that one of the cheques was paid to a creditor of Asian Renown.
A full audit of the company books was subsequently commissioned and copies of some of the stolen cheques were collected from the cheque issuing bank.
The prosecution was today represented by Selwyn So on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Lawrence Hong.