Hong Kong graduate jailed for 25 months for stealing HK$800,000 from student union
- Judge says student, 24, abused trust that union placed in him as its financial secretary, orders him to pay HK$220,000 in compensation
A Hong Kong religion and philosophy graduate has been jailed for more than two years for the theft of HK$800,000 (US$102,000) from his university’s student union to speculate on securities.
Kowloon City Court on Monday sentenced Yiu Hei-chun, who as the union’s financial secretary, to 25 months in jail on two charges of theft.
The 24-year-old, who said he wanted to use the cash to make a profit in the markets and cover his mother’s medical bills, was also ordered to pay HK$220,000 to the union, the amount he and his family could raise as restitution.
The court heard the student got an administrator at Baptist University’s student union to sign two cheques after he pretended the money was for organising social events.
Deputy Magistrate Wallis Chung Wing-sze said Yiu had breached the trust placed in him as the union’s financial secretary.
She added his money problems were not an excuse for breaking the law.
Chung also expressed regret that Yiu’s conviction would cast a shadow over what would have otherwise been a bright future.
Yiu, who earned a bachelor’s degree in his subjects, deposited the HK$800,000 in his savings account and moved HK$600,000 of it into an investment account between February and May last year.
The president and vice-president of the union at the time said they had not been told about the events that Yiu had claimed needed to be paid for after they were asked about them by an administrator.
The court heard the investment account had a balance of HK$510,000 by the time Yiu’s crimes were discovered.
Yiu pleaded guilty to the charges last month after he had spent almost 11 months in custody before trial.
Defence counsel said Yiu, his family’s breadwinner, had hoped to make investments and use the profits to pay for his mother’s medical expenses.
Theft is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment, but capped at three years when the case is heard in a magistrates’ court.
