Once regarded as the 'King of Gold' and controlling four listed companies, Raymond Chan Fat-chu, the former president of the Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society, has lost his fortune and will spend four years and 10 months in jail.
Chan, the former chairman of delisted gold trader RNA Holdings, was handed the jail sentence at the District Court yesterday for his role in defrauding the company of HK$100 million to cover up losses in property investments during the Asian financial crisis.
His younger brother and deputy chairman, Alexander Chan Fat-leung, was sentenced to four years imprisonment on the same charge.
However, in the eyes of many brokers and gold traders, the Chans were generous, hard-working and aggressive businessmen who were victims of the financial crisis.
Raymond Chan started trading in the local gold exchange as a teenager for his family business in the 1970s and climbed to become president of the gold and silver exchange from 1996 to 2000.
The Chans have a long history with gold. Their father, Chan Mok-tim, started gold and diamond trading firm Tem Fat Hing Fung in 1949 to supply jewellery shops.