Five sales staff of the Theme fashion chain defrauded their employer of commission by completing bogus receipts to back up claims they were meeting sales targets, Eastern Court heard yesterday. The female employees of the chain's Queensway Plaza branch in Admiralty pleaded guilty to conspiring to use documents with intent to deceive. In May, assistant manager Yeung Fong, 32; senior sales staff Sung Ka-lam, 21, and Lee Tsz-lan, 26; and clerks Chan Kwai-ha, 22, and Liu Shuk-fun, 21, created six fake invoices after sales fell $11,000 short of the store's $380,000 target, the court heard. The five each stood to lose between $1,000 and $2,000 if the target was not met. In a bid to cover up the scam, the women allegedly deposited sums of money matching the fake receipts into the company's bank account. They recouped this money from customers who made cash purchases, by-passing the store's computer system by issuing hand-written receipts, the court heard. The five then created fake slips showing the items on the fraudulent invoices had been returned and exchanged for the goods bought by the customers who received hand-written receipts. The Independent Commission Against Corruption found the bogus invoices during a search of the store on June 4. Defence lawyer Tommy Ho said the women committed the offence because they feared losing their jobs if they failed to meet the sales target. He submitted letters from the employer stating that the women had returned the commission. Principal Magistrate Ian Candy adjourned the case to November 11 for sentencing.
