The music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Samuel Wong, has been subjected to an e-mail smear campaign by an impostor posing as a staff member.
Smear e-mails were sent out by an unknown person posing as the orchestra's assistant general manager, Paul Tam, to journalists and musicians on Monday.
Mr Tam sent a correction e-mail to those on the list yesterday, saying that someone had created a Hotmail account using his name and the letters 'hkpo'.
The person had sent out a defamatory message without his knowledge, Mr Tam said in the correction. Neither he nor Mr Wong could be reached for comment yesterday .
'It's absolutely despicable and libellous,' Mr Tam said in the e-mail. 'I will further seek MSN Hotmail service's advice and definitely consider legal action on pursuing this matter . . . I will refer this case to the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.'
A friend who answered Mr Tam's mobile phone last night said Mr Tam had also lodged a complaint with the police. A spokesman for the police was last night unable to confirm whether or not a report had been made.
Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Richard Turnbull said the person who wrote the e-mail could potentially face criminal charges.