A chance glance at a fax and eavesdropping on her boss' telephone conversation led a personal assistant to make a profit of $231,745 on the stock market, but saddled her with a $1.8 million fine for insider dealing.
Lawyers for Shek Mei-ling, a personal assistant to a local businessman, argued before the Court of Appeal yesterday that the financially strapped woman could not afford to pay the penalty imposed by the Insider Dealing Tribunal on February 12.
Adrian Huggins SC, representing Ms Shek, said the tribunal made several blunders when it assessed the penalty. He argued the $231,745 profit made on the shares of Hong Kong Worsted Mills were not from insider dealing, 'but rather due to the rise in the value of the shares due to other factors'.
The inquiry probed the share activities in Hong Kong Worsted Mills between May 6 and June 16, 1993.
Ms Shek happened to see a fax from her boss, Ng Kwong-fung, in late December, 1992. She also overheard a telephone conversation between him and a Beijing venture partner in May 1993, Mr Huggins SC said.
The fax mentioned that the Beijing municipal government was looking at the takeover possibilities of a listed Hong Kong company.
Ms Shek heard Mr Ng discussing Hong Kong Worsted Mills on the phone on May 6, 1993. That day she opened an account and over the next week bought 100,000 Hong Kong Worsted Mills shares worth $408,873.
