Work pressure and betrayal by a lover may have turned a law clerk into a modern-day Robin Hood who secretly made a $1 million payout to an injured worker from her company's accounts, a court heard yesterday. Iris Yan Suk-fan, 33, falsely represented to glass factory worker Tang King-por that Mr Tang's employer, the Kwong Wo Glass Company, was willing to pay the sum to settle his lawsuit. She then forged a consent order purportedly issued by the High Court to Mr Tang in January last year as confirmation of the settlement, prosecutor Peter Duncan told the District Court. She also wrote to the glass factory's law firm claiming that Mr Tang was willing to accept $310,000 and she forged another consent order. This amount was paid to her law firm. Mr Tang received about $950,000 from Yan's law firm, which is now investigating insurance compensation for that amount. The court heard Mr Tang said he was keeping $850,000 of the payout intact until the insurance investigation was completed. Yan's barrister, Charles Chan, said she suffered from anxiety and depression as a result of work pressure and problems with her boyfriend, who had betrayed her. 'Because of her impaired judgment, she might have taken on the role of Robin Hood to help the poor,' Mr Chan said. He said Yan had felt deep sympathy for Mr Tang, who lost the use of his right hand. Mr Chan said Yan, employed by solicitors Messrs Jesse H. Y. Kwok & Co for almost nine years, worked her way up from typist to the person in charge of the litigation section. He urged Judge Richard Day to hand down a suspended jail term. Yan yesterday admitted four charges of delivering a false copy of a document, three of procuring the execution of a valuable security, two of theft and one of making a false instrument. The offences took place between January and June last year. Judge Day adjourned sentencing until today.
