Two foreign-exchange brokers have been jailed for covering up the role of socialite Mo Yuk-ping in manipulating the shares of her husband's company. In sentencing, Judge Alan Wright said yesterday that Sammy Lam Kai-sing, 41, and Cheung Pak-yau, 44, had 'consciously' lied to the Securities and Futures Commission that they had bought shares of Shanghai Land for themselves in 2002 through brokerage accounts opened in their names. Mo's husband, Chau Ching-ngai, was chairman of Shanghai Land. Judge Wright said: 'There was careful and full preparation and consultation so as to put yourselves in a position to successfully mislead the SFC.' The judge said the pair's involvement in the stock manipulation scheme was motivated by their 'avaricious desire to ensure the continued flow of foreign exchange dealings' from Mo. Lam was sentenced to eight months for providing false information to the SFC twice in 2003 during the commission's investigation into trading in Shanghai Land shares between August 2002 and January 2003. Cheung was sentenced to six months for committing a similar offence in 2003. The pair had pleaded guilty to the charges. Mo and her personal assistant, Chung Sau-ling, 30, had been found guilty of manipulating the shares of Shanghai Land. Mo and her co-accused will be sentenced January 16.
