A bank manager appeared in court yesterday accused of misleading six investors, some barely educated and retired, to buy HK$6.8 million of Lehman Brothers minibonds.
Cheung Kwai-kwai, 47, a former personal financial services manager at Bank of China (Hong Kong), pleaded not guilty in the District Court to nine counts of fraudulently or recklessly inducing the victims to invest money between 2005 and 2008, violating the Securities and Futures Ordinance.
Senior prosecutor Jonathan Man Tak-ho said that Cheung misrepresented to the victims the minibonds were "principal protected", "of very low risk" or "highly secured" while experts said the products were complicated structures whose principal - the sum invested - was not protected, meaning investors could lose all of their money.
The alleged victims are now aged 51 to 78. Three were retirees when they were induced to buy the products, the court heard on the first day of the trial.
Read the following link for the full story:
http://www.lbv.org.hk/content/pages/posts/minibond-investors-misled-says-prosecutor10705.php
Interesting that Hong Kong's Authority can start prosecution in relation to the Mini Bond issue while Singapore - an independent "City-State" could not. On another note, HK had initiated a 4G Internet using "LTE" and I wonder if our much vaulted High Speed Fibre Optics Internet network is any match ?
ReplyDeleteBoth Singapore & HK were once British Crown colonies. One is an Independent State or City State, the other just a "SAR". Strange !
Our "High Speed Fibre Optics" is running into probems with MCST of Condos, over who should foot the bills for wiring...MCs demand concealed wiring, and providers refused to bear costs. So now all not just in a hitch but stalled.
ReplyDeleteWe love the top class transport system and service in HK.
ReplyDeleteJust stand along the road and wave for a taxi, if you are older in look, the driver would not hesitate to come out and help with luggage. And we love the mini buses who ply along small, out of the way places that bigger buses do not ply. And of course their MRT.
Singapore still could not keep up,
and the taxi service is a nightmare
when you need a cab most at certain hours and certain places.
And HK is just a SAR of Communist China. Very malu. Too much inefficiency and incompetency here.
Maybe we should increase the salaries of the top ministers so that they will improve on their services and become more competent.
ReplyDelete