The District Court trial of three sophisticated ramp-and-dump cases involving the shares of Eggriculture Foods Limited, Fullwealth Construction Holdings Company Limited and KNT Holdings Limited will begin on 13 July 2026, 30 November 2026 and 6 April 2027 respectively (Note 1).
The trial dates were fixed in today’s hearing in the District Court after all 19 defendants in the three cases pleaded not guilty to charges of suspected securities-related fraud and money laundering.
The criminal proceedings arose from the joint investigations by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Police.
The defendants were charged with offences of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to employ a scheme with intent to defraud or deceive in securities transactions under common law, the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) and the Crimes Ordinance (Note 2); and/or money laundering under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Note 3).
The District Court granted bail pending trial to each defendant on the following conditions: (i) cash and sureties ranging from $50,000 to $1 million; (ii) not to leave Hong Kong; (iii) surrender all travel documents; (iv) report to the police station on a regular basis; and (v) reside at the reported residential address and inform the Police in advance of any change of residential address.
Notes:
- Please see the SFC’s press releases dated 30 September 2022, 24 November 2022, 4 April 2023, 6 April 2023, 17 April 2023, 19 June 2024, 9 July 2024, 6 August 2024 and 12 November 2024.
- Section 300 of the SFO and sections 159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance.
- Sections 25(1) and 25(3) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance.
