R. v. Lee Chi Ming
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CACC000588/1995 IN THE COURT OF APPEAL 1995, No.588
---------------- Coram: Bokhary, J.A. and Bewley, J. in Court Date of hearing: 9 January 1996 Date of judgment : 9 January 1996 ------------------------- J U D G M E N T ------------------------- Bewley, J.: (Giving the judgment of the Court) 1. The applicant pleaded guilty to 19 charges of theft. He was sentenced to a total of 3½ years' imprisonment by Judge Beeson. 2. The applicant was a client of a stockbroking firm. He also acted on behalf of five other clients, who gave him authority to buy and sell shares and warrants. 3. In August, 1990, the applicant withdrew $850,000 from his bank accounts and left for Macau without settling 19 transactions valued in total $805,365. No shares or warrants remained in any of the accounts. These transactions were dated between February and July that year. 4. In May, 1995, the applicant returned to Hong Kong to visit his ailing mother and he was arrested. 5. In his grounds of appeal the applicant says his wife wanted to leave Hong Kong, which caused him to become disturbed, and he lost money in speculation. His wife has now died. He has an old father. He now wishes to compensate his victims. He has no relevant previous conviction. The only other mitigating factors are his plea of guilty and his voluntary return, although the judge doubted if the latter was prompted by genuine remorse. She suspected that he was merely tired of being on the run and wanted to see his mother. 6. Having regard to the breach of trust, the number of offences and the large amount of missing money, we are unable to say that the total sentence is manifestly excessive. We refuse the application.
Representation: Mr David Chan, S.C.C., for Crown/Respondent Applicant Lee Chi-ming in person |