Sushi man jailed over $24m theft

Staff reporter

A former accounting manager at Itamae Sushi was jailed for six years and eight months after stealing HK$24 million from the sushi chain over two years.

Eric Tong Chi-ling, 50, pleaded guilty to six counts of theft for stealing money from the chain while working there between 2005 and 2007, which he used to pay gambling debts.

Deputy High Court judge Bruce Andrew said Tong's behavior was "shameless."

Tong left Hong Kong for nine years after his crime was discovered. Although he returned afterward, he tried to flee again during the police investigation. Andrew noted that this shows Tong was unwilling to be held accountable.

The court heard earlier that Tong received revenue from different Itamae Sushi outlets every day and was tasked with depositing the cash into the bank accounts of the respective outlets.

During auditing in 2007, Tong failed to provide the required accounting documents and went missing in October that same year.

Auditors later found that Tong forged deposit slips to make it appear as if he deposited the cash.

Ricky Cheng Wai-tao, the founder of Itamae Sushi, reported the case to the police in 2019.

Tong stayed in Shenzhen for nine years before returning in 2016. He tried to escape when police called him up, but was stopped at the Lo Wu border point.

Tong admitted that he listed the amounts he stole as the company's expenses to cover up his crime. All the money was spent on repaying his gambling debts.

In mitigation, the defense said Tong had a young son and that he got addicted to gambling, visiting Macau casinos on a nearly weekly basis.