Banker's secretary admits HK$7.5m theft
A secretary at Jardine Fleming who stole HK$7.5 million from the investment bank's former director over the course of more than four years was caught in San Francisco and returned to Hong Kong to admit her crime.
Helena Lau Yuen-lan, 48, was personal secretary from 1992 to 2002 to Christopher Rampton, 58, director at Jardine Fleming Holdings at the time. Jardine Fleming became part of JP Morgan Chase in 2000.
She pleaded guilty before Judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap in the District Court yesterday to theft, depositing HK$7.51 million of her boss' money into her private accounts.
Lau had been living in San Francisco since 2003, but police located her last September and surrendered her to Hong Kong, with her consent, in November.
Mr Rampton started authorising Lau to make withdrawals from his account at Standard Asia Bank, a subsidiary of Jardine Fleming, in 1996. She would prepare forms instructing the bank on withdrawals and the bank would issue cheques to Mr Rampton through her.
Using this system, Lau issued 118 cheques to deposit Mr Rampton's money into her own bank accounts from December 1998 to March 2003. Standard Asia staff grew suspicious and notified Mr Rampton.
A lawyer for Lau said she initially stole the money to help raise her son, for whom her former husband never paid alimony, and her elderly parents, but her actions spiralled out of control, becoming an illness, and she started making more purchases.
He said she did not used any sophisticated methods to conceal her withdrawals and simply deposited the money into accounts in her own name. The case has been adjourned to April 7 for sentencing pending a background report on Lau.
