Former CA Pacific boss Jason Wong But-sit yesterday walked free from the High Court after a judge suspended a two-year jail term for false accounting.
Wong's estranged wife, Elizabeth Kong Suk-yee, received the same sentence following a three-month trial packed with family betrayal and drama.
This is the latest high-profile commercial case to end without incarceration despite a conviction. A jury last week acquitted Wong of stealing $248 million from CA Pacific Finance, money used to fund the $1.24 billion purchase of Central's Century Square in late 1997.
However, after two days' deliberation, Wong and his wife were found guilty of making a bogus loan agreement.
Mr Justice Gareth Lugar-Mawson said however: 'I am of the view that justice will be properly held if it is a suspended term.' Kong burst into tears as she walked out of the dock, and Wong rushed to embrace his brothers and mother, clearly relieved after a gruelling two-day wait for the verdict and a further weekend before hearing the sentence.
Speaking outside the court, Wong said the worst part of his ordeal was 'the thought that you haven't done anything, that's the most difficult one'.