A litigation clerk at a solicitors' firm forged a document in an attempt to mislead his employer, a court was told yesterday.
Poon Chak-on, 35, denied a charge of using a false instrument.
Eastern Court heard Poon, a clerk at S. H. Leung and Company, was assigned to help plaintiff Poon Tit-wing recover four shops in Tai Po Market and collect outstanding rentals in October 1994.
Six months later, the shops' owner contacted the solicitors to see why it was taking so long.
The defendant, having been asked by his employer, Leung Sin-hon, about the progress, produced a copy of a High Court document showing he had finished the work.
It was alleged the copy was forged by Poon. It was brought to light after the solicitors discovered the keys to the premises had been returned to the owner, but he had not received the rent, totalling $68,000 a month.