A bank teller who siphoned off more than $1.5 million from the accounts of two elderly clients was given a suspended sentence yesterday.
Kwok Ka-ping, 32, was warned by District Court judge Brian de Souza to cherish her freedom for the duration of her two-year sentence, suspended for three years.
Kwok worked at a Nathan Road branch of the Hang Seng Bank. She earlier pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft involving the forgery of two clients' signatures.
She admitted forging the signatures of Tsang Sau-chun, 92, and Chan Shuit-yae, 80, on withdrawal slips several times between July and September last year.
Kwok had transferred $1,514,272 from the two victims' accounts to Welfull Securities Company's account, the court heard.
'You committed these crimes out of stupidity thinking you could recoup your losses from bad investments,' Judge de Souza said.