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Investigation into cases relating to Lehman Brothers
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     Police has curtailed the investigation in relation to the "Misleading Investor" complaints against Lehman Brothers, after seeking legal advice from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and reviewing the evidence available.

     "As it is considered that there is not a reasonable prospect of a conviction against anyone, no criminal prosecution will be instituted. The Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) will inform the complainants of the result by letter today (March 29)," a Police spokesman said.

     After the Lehman Brothers' ("Lehman") bankruptcy filed in the USA on September 15, 2008, Police received reports alleging that a number of financial institutions in Hong Kong had misled investors into purchasing Lehman related products. Since September 2008, CCB has received about 3,100 complaints. The majority of them are "Misleading Investor" cases, 39 related to "Forgery" and one related to "Conspiracy to Defraud".

     Investigations were conducted on the "Misleading Investor" cases and after seeking legal advice, three salespersons of a local financial institution were charged separately in 2010 for ˇ§Fraudulently or recklessly induce others to invest moneyˇ¨ under Section 107 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571).  In the first two court cases, the defendants were acquitted.  For the third case, having reviewed the evidence and all the circumstances of the case, it was considered that there was not a reasonable prospect of a conviction against the defendant and therefore no criminal prosecution was instituted.

     As regards the outstanding "Misleading Investor" cases, Police have sought DoJ advice and reviewed the evidence available. It is considered that there is not a reasonable prospect of a conviction against anyone and therefore no criminal prosecution will be instituted.

     In respect of the 39 "Forgery" cases, there was one successful prosecution in which a former bank officer, falsifying the signature of a complainant, was charged with the offence of "Forgery". She was convicted and sentenced to 200 hours' community service order. In addition, investigation of 33 cases was completed and it was considered that the chance of successful prosecution was slim. The complainants have been or will be individually informed of the outcome. Five remaining cases are still under investigation.

     As regards one "Conspiracy to Defraud" case, Police sought DoJ advice and it was considered that there was not a reasonable prospect of a conviction. The complainant has already been informed of the outcome of the investigation.

Police Report No. 193

Ends/Thursday, March 29, 2012
Issued at HKT 22:30

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