Roy Cho, alleged mastermind of Hong Kong’s biggest fraud case, denies fresh charge of deceiving staff at Convoy as trial gets under way
- Trial begins of former Convoy executive director, Roy Cho kwai-chee, the alleged mastermind of Hong Kong’s largest financial investigation in decades
- Cho and two associates charged with issuing false statement as company directors, in addition to earlier charge of conspiring to defraud
The alleged mastermind of the fraud involving Hong Kong’s largest independent financial advisory firm, Convoy Global Holdings, was charged with intent to deceive members of the company about its affairs by the city’s anti-corruption investigator as the trial got under way on Monday.
The same charges were levied against his associates, Christie Chan Lai-yee, 46, a former chief financial officer at Convoy, and Byron Tan Ye-kai, 51, a former executive director at the company.
Cho, 55, acted as a de facto, or shadow, director of Convoy, exerting significant influence over its operations while he owned 50 per cent of the company, the ICAC said.
If convicted, the District Court can impose jail sentences of up to seven years on each of the accused.
The trio pleaded not guilty to both charges at the court hearing and were released on bail. The trial will continue at the Wanchai District Court on Tuesday at 10am.
The court hearing has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak. People were told to sit one seat apart, and the judge required that each law firm had only two lawyers present.