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A 36-year-old woman was sentenced to an imprisonment of six years and seven months at the High Court for theft of $17 million and money laundering today (September 19).
The court heard that the defendant was the Relationship Manageress of four victims who held time deposit accounts with a local bank.
In October 2009, the bank noticed the suspicious transfers of funds from victims' accounts to the bank account of the defendant's mother and therefore reported the case. The case was then followed up by officers of the Commercial Crime Bureau.
Police's investigation revealed that the defendant had fraudulently terminated victimsˇ¦ time deposits and misappropriated a total sum of $17 million between August 2004 and October 2009 by submitting false time deposit instruction forms and transfer slips to the bank.
The defendant had made use of her mother's bank account without her knowledge for laundering the crime proceeds. A total of $7.8 million was frozen and recovered from the bank account of the defendant's mother.
The defendant was arrested in October 2009 and subsequently charged. She was convicted of six counts of theft and two counts of money laundering last Monday (September 12) and sentence was handed down today.
Police Report No. 21
Ends/Monday, September 19, 2011
Issued at HKT 23:44
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