Twelve months’ jail for $13m export invoice financing loans fraud
2018-7-31
A director-cum-shareholder of a trading company, charged by the ICAC, was today (July 31) sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment at the District Court after being convicted of defrauding a bank of export invoice financing loans totalling about $13 million by using false commercial invoices.
Ng Tai-shing, 65, director-cum-shareholder of D.D. Industries Limited (DDIL), was found guilty of four counts of fraud, contrary to Section 16A(1) of the Theft Ordinance.
In sentencing, Judge Mr Stanley Chan Kwong-chi said the defendant had eroded the channel and structure of financing, causing prejudice to the banking system.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offences.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was the director-cum-shareholder of DDIL, which was engaged in plastic home accessories business.
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCB) had granted DDIL an export invoice financing, a trade credit facility to corporate clients to finance their operations before they received payments from their buyers.
The court heard that between December 5, 2013 and January 29, 2015, the defendant had submitted 18 export invoice financing loan applications to SCB. To support the applications, the defendant attached 38 commercial invoices of DDIL purportedly issued to four companies for sales and delivery of goods respectively.
In the belief that the transactions and/or the contents of the 38 invoices were genuine and DDIL was awaiting payments from the buyers, SCB approved the 18 applications and released loan payments totalling about $13 million to the account of DDIL maintained with the bank.
ICAC enquiries revealed that the four companies had never placed the orders with DDIL pursuant to the 38 invoices, and had never received the invoices from DDIL.
Had SCB known that the invoices submitted by DDIL in support of the applications were bogus or contained any false information, the bank would not have processed the applications and released the loan payments to the company, the court was told.
SCB had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Susanna Ku and assisted by ICAC officers Ken Chek and Dirk Cheung.
Ng Tai-shing, 65, director-cum-shareholder of D.D. Industries Limited (DDIL), was found guilty of four counts of fraud, contrary to Section 16A(1) of the Theft Ordinance.
In sentencing, Judge Mr Stanley Chan Kwong-chi said the defendant had eroded the channel and structure of financing, causing prejudice to the banking system.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offences.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was the director-cum-shareholder of DDIL, which was engaged in plastic home accessories business.
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCB) had granted DDIL an export invoice financing, a trade credit facility to corporate clients to finance their operations before they received payments from their buyers.
The court heard that between December 5, 2013 and January 29, 2015, the defendant had submitted 18 export invoice financing loan applications to SCB. To support the applications, the defendant attached 38 commercial invoices of DDIL purportedly issued to four companies for sales and delivery of goods respectively.
In the belief that the transactions and/or the contents of the 38 invoices were genuine and DDIL was awaiting payments from the buyers, SCB approved the 18 applications and released loan payments totalling about $13 million to the account of DDIL maintained with the bank.
ICAC enquiries revealed that the four companies had never placed the orders with DDIL pursuant to the 38 invoices, and had never received the invoices from DDIL.
Had SCB known that the invoices submitted by DDIL in support of the applications were bogus or contained any false information, the bank would not have processed the applications and released the loan payments to the company, the court was told.
SCB had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Susanna Ku and assisted by ICAC officers Ken Chek and Dirk Cheung.