Company director gets six months’ jail for using false sales contract to open bank account
2020-4-2
A company director, charged by the ICAC, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment at the Kowloon City Magistracy today (April 2) after admitting that she had used a false sales contract to support her application for opening a corporate account for the company with a bank.
Ma Tinghua, 47, sole director of Pro-way Do International Limited (PDIL), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to use a false instrument, contrary to Sections 73 and 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr David Chum Yau-fong said the offence committed by the defendant was serious in nature.
The magistrate said the defendant’s acts could have assisted others to commit crimes of higher severity such as money laundering, and caused economic loss to the bank concerned.
The magistrate took a starting point of nine months’ imprisonment. Having considered the defendant’s guilty plea, her jail term was reduced by one-third.
The case arose from a corruption complaint referred by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (DBS Hong Kong). Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offence.
The court heard that the defendant is a mainland resident who had worked in a butcher shop in Guangzhou. In late 2018, an unidentified customer of the butcher shop invited her to assist in opening a corporate bank account in Hong Kong.
Since January 8, 2019, the defendant was registered as the sole director of PDIL, which was incorporated in Hong Kong in September 2012.
On January 24, 2019, the defendant went to a branch of DBS Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui in the company of the customer. She signed on some documents given by the customer and submitted them to the bank to open a corporate bank account for PDIL.
Among those documents was a false sales contract purportedly signed between PDIL and a home appliances manufacturer for selling three “10 feet dry cargo shipping containers” to the latter at over HK$68,000.
The proprietor of the home appliances manufacturer confirmed that he did not know PDIL and the defendant, and that his company had never had any business dealing with PDIL, the court heard.
The bank account of PDIL, which was successfully opened in late February 2019, was subsequently closed by DBS Hong Kong in June 2019 due to potential risk of money laundering activities.
When interviewed under caution by ICAC officers in January 2020, the defendant admitted that she agreed to open a bank account in Hong Kong on behalf of the customer who offered her RMB10,000.
DBS Hong Kong had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Benjamin Ho.
Ma Tinghua, 47, sole director of Pro-way Do International Limited (PDIL), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to use a false instrument, contrary to Sections 73 and 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr David Chum Yau-fong said the offence committed by the defendant was serious in nature.
The magistrate said the defendant’s acts could have assisted others to commit crimes of higher severity such as money laundering, and caused economic loss to the bank concerned.
The magistrate took a starting point of nine months’ imprisonment. Having considered the defendant’s guilty plea, her jail term was reduced by one-third.
The case arose from a corruption complaint referred by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (DBS Hong Kong). Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offence.
The court heard that the defendant is a mainland resident who had worked in a butcher shop in Guangzhou. In late 2018, an unidentified customer of the butcher shop invited her to assist in opening a corporate bank account in Hong Kong.
Since January 8, 2019, the defendant was registered as the sole director of PDIL, which was incorporated in Hong Kong in September 2012.
On January 24, 2019, the defendant went to a branch of DBS Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui in the company of the customer. She signed on some documents given by the customer and submitted them to the bank to open a corporate bank account for PDIL.
Among those documents was a false sales contract purportedly signed between PDIL and a home appliances manufacturer for selling three “10 feet dry cargo shipping containers” to the latter at over HK$68,000.
The proprietor of the home appliances manufacturer confirmed that he did not know PDIL and the defendant, and that his company had never had any business dealing with PDIL, the court heard.
The bank account of PDIL, which was successfully opened in late February 2019, was subsequently closed by DBS Hong Kong in June 2019 due to potential risk of money laundering activities.
When interviewed under caution by ICAC officers in January 2020, the defendant admitted that she agreed to open a bank account in Hong Kong on behalf of the customer who offered her RMB10,000.
DBS Hong Kong had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Benjamin Ho.