A former chairman of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta (HKS) was today (Friday) convicted at District Court of misappropriating the orchestra's funds by inflating allowances paid to two musicians by over $95,000.

Henry Yu Hung-yung, 59, was found guilty of seven counts of false accounting and two of theft.

Deputy Judge Ian Candy adjourned the case until March 28, 2003 for sentence, pending background and community service order reports. The defendant was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.

The HKS receives grants from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC).

The case arose from a corruption complaint, alleging that a former chairman of HKS might have been involved in corruption over the management of the orchestra. ICAC enquiries uncovered the false accounting and theft offences.

The court heard that between January 1996 and January 1998, Yu had asked two musicians contracted by the orchestra to acknowledge receipt of their remuneration by signing on pieces of blank paper.

Yu then falsified official receipts of HKS by inflating the amount of monies paid to the musicians by $95,500 in total, and submitted the receipts to HKS for reimbursement. He had pocketed the difference.

The court also heard that in February 1998, Yu had stolen two sums of money totalling $30,000 from HKS by falsely representing that they were payments made to the Hong Kong Oratorio Society and an instructor of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

The management of HKADC had provided full assistance to ICAC throughout its investigation.

The prosecution was today represented by John Necholas on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Andrew Chan.