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Two men and a woman, aged between 33 and 42, were sentenced to imprisonments ranging from 14 to 17 months at the District Court today (February 2) for offences related to a securities fraud case with a reported loss of $32 million.
The court heard that the three defendants, who were staff of a liquidated brokerage house, unlawfully sold clients¡¯ shares entrusted in the brokerage house through a number of securities accounts opened in the names of their relatives between January 2000 and May 2002.
Majority of the proceeds of such sales were deposited into the bank accounts of the defendants¡¯ relatives and channeled back to the three defendants.
The Securities and Futures Commission observed malpractice and started to conduct enquiries into the company. The case was referred to Police¡¯s Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) in May 2002.
After extensive investigations, CCB officers arrested the three defendants and charged them in February 2006 for theft, false accounting and dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence.
They were earlier convicted at the District Court and the sentences were handed down today.
Ends/Friday, February 2, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:32
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