A company chairman and his wife were jailed for more than two years yesterday for scamming shareholders and the stock exchange about a fake gas project in the mainland.
Three other directors of another listed company, who helped to cover up the fraud, were jailed for six months to a year.
Wayland Tsang Wai-lun, the former chairman of listed developer Grand Field, was sentenced to 32 months in jail while his wife Nancy Kwok Wai-man was given 30 months after earlier being found guilty in the District Court of fraud.
District Court judge Albert Wong Sung-hau sentenced the three former directors of listed financier Upbest Group for conspiracy to deal in the proceeds of an indictable offence.
Sixty-three-year-old Upbest founder Charles Cheng Kai-ming, a veteran broker with more than 30 years of experience, was sentenced to nine months in jail. His right-hand man, George Li Kwok-cheung, 49, was sentenced to 12 months in prison while former independent director David Wong Wai-kwong, 52, was given six months.
'Their dishonest behaviour has misled the stock exchange and the investors,' Judge Wong said. 'This has tarnished the efforts for Hong Kong to establish itself as an international financial centre.'
