Integrity Focus

A former personal assistant of a businessman, charged by the ICAC, was today (August 16) sentenced to five years’ imprisonment at the District Court for conspiring with the businessman to deal with crime proceeds totalling $125 million, being loans unlawfully obtained by the businessman from a listed company.

Lam Chung-kan (also known as Lin Songgen), 50, was earlier found guilty of five counts of conspiracy to deal with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence, contrary to section 25(1) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance and sections 159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance.

In sentencing, Judge Mr Clement Lee Hing-nin noted that the case was premeditated and planned, involved cross-border crimes, and caused the aforesaid listed company to suffer a loss of over $80 million, all being aggravating factors.

The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint referred by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), followed by an operation jointly mounted by the ICAC and the SFC in 2021.

The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was a personal assistant of a businessman Huang Ziqiang. In mid-2015, Huang arranged the defendant and others to hold substantial amount of shares of publicly listed Sunway International Holdings Limited (Sunway). Huang also arranged some individuals to take up senior executive posts of the listed company.

In early 2016, Sunway started operating money lending business. Between July 2016 and September 2017, Huang had obtained five loans totalling $125 million from the listed company via four local and offshore companies controlled by the businessman through the defendant and others, in an attempt to circumvent regulatory requirements to pretend that those companies were independent borrowers.

ICAC inquiries revealed that after the above-mentioned local and offshore companies received the loans from Sunway, the defendant would dispose of the loan proceeds according to the instructions given by Huang for the use of the latter or the companies controlled by him. Repayments of over $80 million out of the five loans were defaulted.

ICAC appreciates the full assistance of the SFC and the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited during the case investigation.

The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Audrey Parwani, assisted by ICAC officer Michael Yeung.