2015-09-14 HKT 16:57
Former executive councillor Barry Cheung has escaped time in jail after the Court of First Instance substituted his jail sentence for failing to pay wages to an employee with a community service order.
He was sentenced to six weeks in prison by a magistrate in April after pleading guilty to owing the employee, who worked at the now-defunct Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange, four months' salary and benefits totalling about HK$340,000.
But the magistrate released Cheung on bail pending his appeal against his sentence to the Court of First Instance.
In her judgement, Madam Justice Judianna Barnes pointed out that the magistrate's assumption that Cheung had not shown genuine remorse for what he had done was wrong. She set aside the six-week jail sentence and ordered that Cheung perform 160 hours of community service instead.
Cheung, a former key supporter of the Chief Executive, CY Leung, founded the exchange in 2008 for trading commodity futures, options and other financial derivatives. It collapsed in 2013 after citing insufficient revenue to support its operating expenses.
He was sentenced to six weeks in prison by a magistrate in April after pleading guilty to owing the employee, who worked at the now-defunct Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange, four months' salary and benefits totalling about HK$340,000.
But the magistrate released Cheung on bail pending his appeal against his sentence to the Court of First Instance.
In her judgement, Madam Justice Judianna Barnes pointed out that the magistrate's assumption that Cheung had not shown genuine remorse for what he had done was wrong. She set aside the six-week jail sentence and ordered that Cheung perform 160 hours of community service instead.
Cheung, a former key supporter of the Chief Executive, CY Leung, founded the exchange in 2008 for trading commodity futures, options and other financial derivatives. It collapsed in 2013 after citing insufficient revenue to support its operating expenses.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1211293-20150914.htm
