Four people, including two former senior executives of Convoy Global Holdings Limited (Convoy Global), were convicted at the District Court today of conspiracy to defraud the company and its board of directors and shareholders as well as The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) over the placement of bonds issued by Convoy Global (Note 1).
Today’s conviction came after a joint operation of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 2017, after which the four were charged by the ICAC (Notes 2 & 3).
The SFC will continue to collaborate with other law enforcement agencies, including the ICAC, to jointly combat corporate fraud and misconduct.
Deputy Judge Mr Newman Wong found Mr Mak Kwong Yiu, a former executive director of Convoy Global, Ms Chan Lai Yee, a former executive director of Convoy Global, Ms Wong Shuk On, a former manager of Convoy Global and Mr Lee Yick Ming, a former general manager of Gransing Securities Co., Limited (Gransing), to have conspired together to arrange Convoy Global to respectively engage Gransing and Convoy Investment Services Limited (CIS) as the placing agent and sub-placing agent of its bonds placement when in fact, the bonds were solely placed by CIS, which received over $49.6 million commission as sub-placing fee of the bonds placement via Gransing.
The Court also found that CIS was the actual placing agent and the four defendants, including Mak, who was a director and shareholder of CIS at the time, had dishonestly concealed this fact from the Convoy Global’s board of directors and shareholders as well as the SEHK.
The case was adjourned to 9 October for mitigation and sentencing while the defendants were granted cash bail.
Notes:
- Please see the ICAC’s press release for further details.
- Please see the SFC’s press release dated 22 July 2019 for further details.
- Convoy Global Holdings Limited was formerly known as Convoy Financial Holdings Limited.
