Four in Hong Kong convicted of money laundering in insurance scheme

Three men and a woman who helped an insurance company's accountant launder more than HK$32 million the accountant tricked his employer into paying received prison sentences in District Court yesterday ranging from 28 to 53 months.

The four - Wong Choi-kwong, Wong Siu-chun, Sammy Tam Tak-keung and Ng Wai-pun, aged 47 to 55 - were found guilty of allowing accountant Michael Fung Siu-cheung, 37, to use their bank accounts to receive and transfer proceeds from false claims he made to his employer, Hong Kong Life Insurance Limited, between 2008 and 2012.

Wong Siu-chun pleaded guilty, while the three men with whom she was accused were convicted at the end of the trial. The four were convicted of a total of 40 charges of money laundering.

"Money laundering is a serious offence," Judge Josiah Lam Wai-kuen said as he sentenced them. "Even if a defendant only played a role to deposit or transfer the funds, he should not expect to be treated with lenience in court."

Lam said he believed the four were not working for Fung for free but the court could not be sure how much money they made from the scheme.

He sentenced Wong Siu-chun to 35 months, while Wong Choi-kwong and Ng, who had repaid the insurance company HK$780,000 and HK$1.5 million respectively, received sentences of 36 months and 28 months. He sentenced Tam to 53 months in prison.