A family of swindlers who stole more than HK$40 million (US$5 million) from cosmetics retailer Bonjour have been imprisoned for their crimes.
The highest sentence of 11 years behind bars was dealt out to the Bonjour fraud scheme ringleader Kiu Mei-ling, 64, a Bonjour employee in charge of payroll who funnelled company funds into her family’s personal accounts. Her son Ha Ting-pong, who was also an employee of the firm, received a sentence of seven years, while her husband received a 6½-year sentence.
Kiu used falsely-inflated salaries and fake employee identities to siphon money from the business between 2004 and 2011. She was caught when a company manager noticed an unusually high salary was being paid to a new member of staff. Most of the funds were not recovered, leading lawyers for the retailer to file a claim for the bail money posted by the family, which is pending further judgement.
Deputy judge Michael Lunn called the scam a “gross breach of trust” that exploited the firm’s weak internal processes.