HKSAR v. Pang King Chung

DCCC689/2011

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 689 OF 2011

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Reasons for Sentence

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1.Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to four offences of theft, each contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance, Cap.210, and guilty to a single offence of using a false instrument, contrary to section 73 of the Crimes Ordinance, Cap.200.

2.You admitted the brief facts and I convicted you.

3.The facts were as follows.

4.You were employed as a customer manager of Citic Bank International Limited from November 2008 to July 2010.

5.On 13 August 2010 you surrendered to Yuen Long Police Station.  Upon arrest and caution, you said, “I received customer complaints of stolen funds from their accounts.  I am the person stealing money, so I came to surrender in the presence of my lawyer.”

Charge 1

6.Miss Pang Yim-ching, PW1, was a customer of yours.  In January 2008 you persuaded her to invest in market funds and foreign currency.  You gave her forms to sign to open accounts, which she did.

7.Upon checking her accounts on 12 August 2010, she was told she only had $4,000 left.  She asked to meet you.  This took place.  You knelt and confessed.  You asked for a chance.

8.On 13 August 2010 a senior staff of the bank informed PW1 that a total of HK$2,262,800 and RMB20,000 had been stolen from her accounts between 18 November 2009 and 22 March 2010  Also, her mailing address had been altered.

9.She confirmed the signatures on the withdrawal slips to be forged.

Charge 2

10.Mr Tang Ching-fan, PW2, had been a bank customer since 1997.  Around eight times you told him his signature did not match the bank’s record and had him sign bank slips again.

11.He was shown six withdrawal slips which he confirmed signing but did not request the money to be withdrawn.

12.Between 19 August 2009 and 5 August 2010 he lost HK$158,000 and RMB40,000.

Charges 3 and 5

13.Mr Tang Chun-lam, PW3, had been a bank customer since 1980.  You handled his investments.  PW3 was not mobile as he had suffered a head injury.  You suggested he sign withdrawal slips in advance to enable transactions to be made on his behalf and he agreed.

14.On 13 August 2010 he was informed by the bank that you had stolen from him.  He discovered an unauthorised joint account with his son, Tang Lap-cheung had been opened.  $2,466,000 had been transferred to this account between 16 March 2009 and 20 July 2010 from his accounts.

15.PW3 confirmed his signature on some of the slips but he said he had not filled in some of the details and the information.

16.His son confirmed that he had never seen the application forms for the false account before.

Charge 4

17.Miss Lee Wai-man Vivienne, PW4, had been your client when you worked at another bank.  In March 2008 you solicited her to transfer her investments to your bank.  She signed application forms for a savings account and an investment account.  She deposited $200,000 through you into Sun Life Financial.

18.On 13 August 2010 she was told that $51,400 had been withdrawn from this investment and deposited into a savings account from where it was withdrawn in cash.  PW4 had not signed the withdrawal slip.

19.The district manager of the bank said that on 13 August 2010 you had confessed to her that you had stolen funds of around $3½ million from the accounts of customers using pre-signed and forged withdrawal slips. She had gone with you when you surrendered at Yuen Long Police Station.

20.In video recorded interviews, you made full confessions.  You said the money had been used for investments or transferred to your Jockey Club account.

21.I was told that you are a person of hitherto clear record.

22.Mr Mok entered mitigation on your behalf.  He provided me with written submissions for which I am very grateful.  He told the court that you are 30 years of age, single and a graduate of Chinese University.  After graduating with a degree in Economics, you were employed at Standard Chartered Bank and then Citic Bank as a customer manager, earning $27,000 per month.

23.Upon discovery of these offences, the bank dismissed you and you are now unemployed and, in fact, bankrupt.

24.You reside with your father and your younger sister.

25.You committed these offences after suffering great losses in investments, losses in the region of over $3 million.  Your financial position was made even worse by your addiction to gambling on football matches.

26.Mr Mok urged me to take into account in mitigation the following facts:

(i) that you had fully co-operated with the police and now pleaded guilty, thus saving a great deal of court time;

(ii) that you are very remorseful for what you have done;

(iii) that you have a clear record;

(iv) that there is $246,000 in your girlfriend’s bank account which you agreed to being used by way of compensation to pay towards what the bank has lost.

27.I am told that this year you plan to marry your girlfriend, but now that has been put on hold.  However, she remains fully supportive and has written to court.  In fact, I was referred to three letters which were produced in support of your position.  I have read them and taken fully into account.

28.Mr Mok also referred to various sentencing authorities, which again were presented in writing.  I have noted those authorities and the guidance that they afford me.  I do not intend to refer to each and every one of them.

29.I turn now to the sentence itself.

30.These are five acts of profound breach of trust. They are extremely serious in their nature, involving as they do a total of approximately HK$5 million or the equivalent.

31.The question obviously arises that if a customer cannot trust the bank manager to deal honestly with his or her investments, who can he or she trust?  It is obvious that your position as a bank manager and your relationship with the victims places this at a very serious level indeed.

32.It is also a matter of aggravation that the money was taken to cover your investment losses and your gambling losses.

33.It is clear to me that your dire financial position was of your own making.

34.In your favour, I do accept that you were fully co-operative with the police and note your plea of guilty, that you are offering to voluntarily repay a small portion of the money that you have stolen.

35.Whilst this is helpful, it is noted there is still approximately $4¾ million which is unlikely ever to be recovered.

36.I note your clear record.

37.I base my sentence on the authority of HKSAR v Cheung Mee Kiu [2006] 4 HKLRD 776, Court of Appeal.  Monies stolen by way of breach of trust in the sum of approximately $5 million falls with the range of 5 to 9 years’ starting point.

38.Whilst these are four separate acts, I treat it as a course of conduct.  My approach is to aggregate all the losses together and sentence on that basis, imposing concurrent sentences for each offence.

39.I, therefore, take a starting point of 5½ years’ imprisonment - that is, 66 months - reduced to 44 months for your plea of guilty.

40.You go to prison for 44 months on each offence, to be served concurrently.

41.Compensation will be paid of $246,000.  I direct that be taken from the bank account of your girlfriend and paid to the bank, which is the victim now in this case, within 14 days.