The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) welcomes the conviction by the High Court today of Mr Wong Ming Chun of two counts of money laundering charges in relation to misappropriation of the funds of Hua Han Health Industry Holdings Limited (Hua Han) in 2015 (Note 1).
Today, Wong, the then financial controller and company secretary of Hua Han, was sentenced to seven years and eight months’ imprisonment in the High Court after he pleaded guilty to the money laundering offences (Note 2). He was also disqualified by the court from being a director of any company in Hong Kong, without the leave of the court, for a period of 12 years (Note 3).
In the course of the SFC’s investigation into suspected disclosure of false or misleading information in Hua Han’s financial statements from 2013 to 2015, the SFC uncovered misappropriation of proceeds from the fundraising activities of Hua Han in 2015. The SFC then referred our investigation findings to the Police (Note 4).
The SFC’s Executive Director of Enforcement, Mr Christopher Wilson, said: “Wong didn’t just fail as a controller – he became an accomplice. Today’s conviction underscores the gravity of Wong’s betrayal of trust as the company’s financial controller and reaffirms that financial controllers’ responsibilities extend beyond transactional oversight to safeguarding a company’s financial integrity and investor trust through robust internal control.”
“When individuals in gatekeeping roles – whether or not they sit on the board – abuse their positions to engage in or facilitate criminal acts, they not only breach their fiduciary duties but also undermine the transparency and stability essential to an efficient and sustainable capital market,” Mr Wilson added. “These roles exist to protect shareholders, not exploit them. When that trust is broken, as it was here, we will not hesitate to use every enforcement tool at our disposal, including collaborating with the Police, to ensure justice is served and market integrity is maintained.”
Notes:
- Hua Han was listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on 10 December 2002 and subsequently delisted on 16 December 2020.
- Under section 25(1) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Cap. 455, a person commits an offence if, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that any property in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents any person’s proceeds of an indictable offence, he deals with that property.
- Under section 168E of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance, Cap. 32.
- The SFC’s investigation is ongoing.
