Disgraced businessman Jason Wong But-sit has failed to clear his name after the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction for false accounting yesterday.
Mr Wong was the former CA Pacific chief, accused of stealing HK$248.9 million in late 1997 from CA Pacific Finance to fund the HK$1.24 billion purchase of Central's Century Square.
In a dramatic turn of events, a Court of First Instance jury unanimously acquitted Mr Wong of stealing the money but convicted him of falsifying the loan agreement.
The loan agreement was between CA Pacific Finance and China Star Consultants, an offshore company set up to purchase the building on CA Pacific's behalf. It lent HK$373 million to China Star.
The jury also convicted Mr Wong's estranged wife Elizabeth Kong Suk-yee on a charge of false accounting over the loan agreement.
Mr Justice Gareth Lugar-Mawson handed Mr Wong and Ms Kong suspended two-year jail terms.